,university of ,georgia47 99 99 99 99 99 ---------------------------------------- ------------------- ,transcriber's ,note3 ,inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been preserved4 ,obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this text4 ,for a complete list1 please see the end of this document4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------- 99 99 99 99 99 ,,usury ,a ,scriptural1 ,ethical and ,economic ,view ,,by ,,calvin ,,elliott ,,published ,,by ,,the ,,anti-,,usury ,,league ,,millersburg1 ,,ohio ,,copyrighted #aijb ,,by ,,calvin ,,elliott4 ,,contents4 ,page4 ,chapter ,i--,definition #g ,chapter ,,ii--,the ,law by ,moses #aa ,chapter ,,iii--,usury and ,the ,stranger #ah ,chapter ,,iv--,david and ,solomon #bf ,chapter ,v--,denunciation of ,jeremiah and ,ezekiel #cj ,chapter ,,vi--,financial ,reform by ,nehemiah #cf ,chapter ,,vii--,teachings of the ,master #db ,chapter ,,viii--,parables of the ,talents and the ,pounds #eb ,chapter ,,ix--,practice of the disciples #eh ,chapter ,x--,church history #fi ,chapter ,,xi--,calvin's letter on usury #gc ,chapter ,,xii--,permanency of the prohibition #gi ,chapter ,,xiii--,our changed conditions #ha ,chapter ,,xiv--,the ,american ,revision #hg ,chapter ,,xv--,duty learned from two sources #ic ,chapter ,,xvi--,rights of man over things #ig ,chapter ,,xvii--,equal rights of men #ajb ,chapter ,,xviii--,a false basal principle #ajh ,chapter ,,xix--,the true ethical principle #aae ,chapter ,,xx--,wealth is barren #aba ,chapter ,,xxi--,wealth decays #acb ,chapter ,,xxii--,the debt habit #ach ,chapter ,,xxiii--,the borrower is servant to the lender #add ,chapter ,,xxiv--,usury enslaves the borrower #adf ,chapter ,,xxv--,usury oppresses the poor #aed ,chapter ,,xxvi--,usury oppresses the poor--continued #afj ,chapter ,,xxvii--,usury oppresses the poor--continued #afh ,chapter ,,xxviii--,usury oppresses the poor--concluded #agd ,chapter ,,xxix--,usury centralizes wealth #ahj ,chapter ,,xxx--,mammon dominates the nations #ahi ,chapter ,,xxxi--,effect on character #bjf ,chapter ,,xxxii--,ax at the root of the tree #bai ,chapter ,,xxxiii--,per contra2 ,christian ,apologists #bcc ,chapter ,,xxxiv--,per contra2 ,land ,rentals #bdc ,chapter ,,xxxv--,per contra2 ,political ,economists #bec ,chapter ,,xxxvi--,usury in ,history #beh ,chapter ,,xxxvii--,francis ,bacon #bff ,chapter ,,xxxviii--,why this truth was neglected #bgb ,chapter ,,xxxix--,crushed truth will rise again #bha ,index #bic ,,to ,,my ,,readers4 ,i beg the sincere and thoughtful consideration of this book by all its readers4 ,please follow the argument in the order in which it is presented4 ,this is the way it developed in my own mind and led me1 step by step1 irresistibly to its conclusions4 ,do not read the closing chapters first1 but begin with the ,definition4 ,i believe every candid reader doing this1 and having a logical mind1 will fully and heartily concur in the condemnation of usury4 ,i hope these arguments will be fairly treated and justly weighed even by those whose interests seem in conflict4 ,i have simply sought the truth1 believing that the truth shall make you free4 ,it cannot be that this or any truth is in real conflict with the highest welfare of any man4 ,if any sincere friends of this truth are grieved that the argument is so crudely and roughly stated1 ,i can only say in excuse1 that1 so far as ,i know or can learn from the great librarians ,i have consulted1 this is the first attempt ever made to fully present the anti-usury argument1 and ,i sincerely hope that others1 profiting by my effort1 may be able to make it more effective4 ,,the ,,author4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,definition4 ,in the evolution of the ,english language1 since the making of our ,king ,james version of the ,bible1 many new words have been introduced1 and many old ones have changed their meanings4 ,in the nearly three hundred years the ,saxon word let1 to hinder1 has become obsolete4 ,it was in common use and well understood when the version was made1 but is now misleading4 ,thus we have in ,isaiah #dc3ac3 ,i will work and who will let 7hinder7 it8 ,paul declared that he purposed to go to ,rome1 but was let 7hindered7 hitherto4 ,rom4 #a3ac4 ,again we have in ,,ii ,thess4 #b3g3 ,only he who now letteth 7hindereth7 will let 7hinder71 until he be taken out of the way4 ,wot1 to know1 has become obsolete4 ,gen4 #ba3bf3 ,i wot 7know7 not who hath done this thing4 ,ex4 #cb3a3 ,as for this ,moses1 we wot 7know7 not what hath become of him4 ,acts #c3ag3 ,i wot 7know7 that through ignorance ye did it4 ,prevent1 from its derivation and use1 meant1 to go before2 now it means to hinder4 ,ps4 #ei3aj3 ,the ,god of my mercies shall prevent 7go before7 me4 ,ps4 #ib3b3 ,let us prevent 7go before7 his face with thanksgiving4 ,i ,thess4 #d3ae3 ,we who are alive shall not prevent 7go before7 them who are asleep4 ,charity1 which now means liberality to the poor1 and a disposition to judge others kindly and favorably1 was at that time a synonym of love1 and used interchangeably with love in the translations of the ,greek4 ,this is especially noted in the panegyric of love1 in the thirteenth chapter of ,first ,corinthians1 and faithfully corrected in the ,revised ,version1 though some have felt that the beauty and especially the euphony of the familiar passage has been marred4 ,but the word charity is no longer equivalent to love1 in our language1 and could not be retained without perverting the sense4 ,usury1 when the version was made1 meant any premium for a loan of money1 or increase taken for a loan of any kind of property4 ,theological ,dictionary3 ,usury1 the gain taken for a loan of money or wares4 ,the gain of anything above the principal1 or that which was lent1 exacted only in consideration of the loan1 whether it be in money1 corn1 wares or the like4 ,bible ,encyclopedia3 ,usury1 a premium received for a sum of money over and above the principal4 ,schaff-,herzog3 ,usury1 originally1 any increase on any loan4 ,this was the usage of the word usury by the great masters of the ,english language1 like ,shakespeare and ,bacon1 in their day1 and is still given as the first definition by the lexicographers of the present4 ,webster1 #ahij edition3 ,usury1 #a4 ,a premium or increase paid or stipulated to be paid for a loan1 as for money2 interest4 #b4 ,the practice of taking interest4 #c4 ,law4 ,interest in excess of a legal rate charged to a borrower for the use of money4 ,interest is comparatively a new word in the language meaning also a premium for a loan of money4 ,it first appeared in the fourteenth century1 as a substitute for usury1 in the first law ever enacted by a ,christian nation that permitted the taking of a premium for any loan4 ,the word usury was very odious to the ,christian mind and conscience4 ,interest was at the first a legal term1 used in law only1 and it has always been applied to that premium or measure of increase that is permitted or made legal by civil law4 ,in modern usage usury is limited in its meaning to that measure of increase prohibited by the civil law4 ,thus the two words interest and usury now express what was formerly expressed by the one word usury alone4 ,interest covers that measure of increase that is authorized in different countries1 while usury1 with all the odium that has been attached to it for ages1 is limited to that measure of increase that for public welfare is forbidden by the laws of a state4 ,the distinction is wholly civic and legal4 ,that may be usury in one state which is only interest in another4 ,the legal rates greatly vary and are changed from time to time in the states themselves4 ,if a state should forbid the taking of any increase on loans1 then all increase would be usury1 and there could be no interest2 or if a state should repeal all laws limiting the exactions of increase1 then there would be no usury in that state4 ,usury is increase forbidden by civil law4 ,separated from the enacted statutes of a state the distinction disappears4 ,there is no moral nor is there an economic difference4 ,blackstone says3 ,when money is lent on a contract to receive not only the principal sum again1 but also an increase by way of compensation for the use1 the increase is called interest by those who think it lawful1 and usury by those who do not4 ,the moral nature of an act does not depend on the enacted statutes of human legislators1 and the laws of economics are eternal4 ,we must not permit our views of divine and economic truth to be perverted by this modern division of increase into legal and illegal4 ,in order that the whole truth may be now expressed in our language we must combine with the old word usury the new word interest2 then only will we have the full force of the revealed truth4 ,wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank1 that at my coming ,i might have required mine own with usury or interest8 ,it is rendered interest in the ,revised ,version4 ,throughout this discussion usury is used in its full old classical meaning for any increase of a loan1 great or small1 whether authorized or forbidden by the civil state4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,law ,,by ,,moses4 ,god determined to deliver his enslaved people from the bondage in ,egypt1 and to lead them out to the land he had promised to their fathers4 ,they had been strangers in ,egypt2 now they should have a land of their own4 ,to them liberty was but a tradition2 they should now be freemen4 ,they had been a tribe2 they should now be a nation4 ,god raised up ,moses to be his special servant and the mouthpiece to declare his will4 ,he ordered his marvelous deliverance from the river1 and his training in court as a freeman4 ,he then gave him direction to lead his people out of their slavery1 and also divine authority to announce to his people the code of laws by which they were to be governed in their free state4 ,some of these laws were ceremonial1 to conserve their religion1 that they might not forget their ,god4 ,some were civil and politic1 to promote the moral1 intellectual and material welfare4 ,all were in accord with the moral and religious nature of man1 and with sound economic principles4 ,all were suited to promote their highest good1 and to secure them forever in their freedom and national independence4 ,the great basal principles of law are found in concrete form4 ,human life is sacred as we find from the explicit laws for its protection4 ,the owner of an ox was made responsible for the life taken by an ox that was known to push with its horns4 ,a battlement or balustrade was required on the houses1 very like our laws requiring fire escapes4 ,the principle is the same4 ,the laws forbidding marriage within certain degrees of kinship have been copied into the laws of every civilized people4 ,the laws for the preservation of social purity have never been surpassed4 ,the rights of property were sacred4 ,each had a right to his own4 ,theft was severely punished4 ,if a thief be found breaking up1 and be smitten that he die1 there shall no blood be shed for him4 ,each must assist in the protection of the property of others2 even the enemy's property must be protected4 ,if thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray1 thou shalt surely bring it back to him again4 ,the laws for the relief of the poor were kinder and more encouraging to self-help and self-reliance than our modern poorhouses4 ,deut4 #ae3g-aa3 ,if there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the ,lord thy ,god giveth thee1 thou shalt not harden thine heart1 nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother2 but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him1 and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need1 in that which he wanteth4 ,beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart1 saying1 ,the seventh year1 the year of release1 is at hand2 and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother1 and thou givest him naught1 and he cry unto the ,lord against thee1 and it be sin unto thee4 ,thou shalt surely give him1 and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him3 because that for this thing the ,lord thy ,god shall bless thee in all thy works1 and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto4 ,for the poor shall never cease out of the land2 therefore ,i command thee1 saying1 ,thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother1 to thy poor1 and to thy needy1 in thy land4 ,these divinely given laws never wrought injustice4 ,they protected life1 purity and property1 and required mutual helpfulness4 ,they were given by the divine mind1 in infinite love1 to promote the highest good of this chosen people4 ,these laws of ,god1 given by ,moses1 positively forbade usury or interest1 and this prohibition was so repeated that there was no mistaking the meaning4 ,ex4 #bb3be3 ,if thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee1 thou shalt not be to him as a usurer1 neither shalt thou lay upon him usury4 ,this law is more fully presented in ,lev4 #be3ce1 #cf1 #cg3 ,and if thy brother be waxen poor1 and fallen into decay with thee1 then thou shalt relieve him2 yea1 though he be a stranger1 or a sojourner2 that he may live with thee4 ,take thou no usury of him1 or increase2 but fear thy ,god2 that thy brother may live with thee4 ,thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury1 or lend him thy victuals for increase4 ,prof4 ,george ,bush makes the following note upon this passage3 ,the original term ',neshek' comes from the verb ',nashak' 7to bite71 mostly applied to the bite of a serpent2 and probably signifies biting usury1 so called perhaps because it resembled the bite of a serpent2 for as this is often so small as to be scarcely perceptible at first1 yet the venom soon spreads and diffuses itself till it reaches the vitals1 so the increase of usury1 which at first is not perceived1 at length grows so much as to devour a man's substance4 ,an effort is sometimes made to limit the application of these laws by placing special emphasis on the poverty of the borrowers and to confine the prohibition of usury to loans to the poor to meet the necessaries of life2 and it is claimed that the laws are not intended to prohibit usury on a loan which the borrower secures as capital for a business4 ,in reply it can be said3 #a4 ,there may be more benevolence in a loan to enable a brother to go into business than in a loan to supply his present needs4 ,it may be less benevolent and less kind to lend a dollar to buy flour for present use than to lend a dollar to buy a hoe with which to go into business and earn the flour4 ,the highest philanthropy supplies the means and opportunities for self-help4 #b4 ,a desire for capital to promote a business to gain more than is necessary to nourish the physical and mental manhood is not justified nor encouraged anywhere in the ,word4 ,there is just a sufficiency of food necessary to the highest physical condition4 ,there is just a sufficiency of material wealth necessary to the development of the noblest manhood4 ,more decreases physical and mental vigor and degrades the whole man4 ,to seek more is of the nature of that covetousness which is idolatry4 ,prov4 #bc3d3 ,labor not to be rich4 ,prov4 #bh3bj3 ,he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent4 ,riches are a gift of ,god and a reward of righteousness4 ,prov4 #bb3d3 ,the reward of humility and the fear of the ,lord are riches and honor and life4 ,psalm #aab3a1 #c3 ,blessed is the man that feareth the ,lord1 that delighteth greatly in his commandments4 99 99 99 ,wealth and riches shall be in his house4 ,in the fourth petition of the ,lord's prayer 7which is3 ,give us this day our daily bread7 we pray1 ,that of ,god's free gift1 we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life and enjoy his blessing with them4 #c4 ,if the prohibition is applicable only when the borrower is poor it would be difficult to properly apply it by drawing the line between the rich and the poor4 ,many who are rich feel that they are poor and there are many high spirited poor who will not admit their poverty4 ,many rich live in conditions that some poor would call poverty4 ,the line must be vague and indefinite and always offensive4 ,if any one should endeavor to clearly mark and emphasize such a division in any modern community he would receive the contempt of all right thinking people4 #d4 ,the laws of the ,hebrews did not discriminate classes except in their ceremonial and forms of worship4 ,there was but one law and that applicable to all alike4 ,even the stranger was included in the uniformity of the law4 ,num4 #ae3ae1 #af3 ,one ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you1 99 99 99 one law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you4 #e4 ,in the ,hebrew community the man of independent resources did not compromise his freedom by becoming indebted to another4 ,debt was a sure indication of some embarrassment or strait4 ,the mention of the poverty of the possible debtor is not to limit the application of the law but describes the borrower4 ,thou shalt not lend upon usury to the poor unfortunate fellow who is compelled to ask a loan4 #f4 ,the laws of the ,hebrew state were for the promotion of equity between man and man and also for the protection of the weak and the helpless4 ,with these objects all good governments must be in harmony4 ,they can only be secured by general laws4 ,it would be very imperfect protection to the helpless poor if it was permitted to charge usury to the covetous1 greedy fellow who having much1 yet desired to gain more and was bidding urgently for the very loan the unfortunate brother needed4 ,also even equity between the borrower and the lender would work a hardness in the conditions of the poor man4 ,full protection requires a law of general application4 #g4 ,independence1 self-reliance1 self-support1 was the condition aimed at and encouraged in the ,hebrew state4 ,borrowing was only in time of sore need4 ,the man who went a-borrowing was second only to the man who went a-begging4 ,the brother who1 through misfortune became dependent1 was able the sooner to repay his loan and return to independence and to self support4 #h4 ,in the repetition of the law in ,deut4 #bc3ai1 #bj1 there is no reference to the poverty of the borrower and it cannot by fair interpretation be limited to the poor4 ,thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother2 usury of money1 usury of victuals1 usury of anything that is lent upon usury4 ,unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury2 but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury3 that the ,lord thy ,god may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to do in the land whither thou goest to possess it4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,usury ,,and ,,the ,,stranger4 ,deut4 #bc3ai1 #bj3 ,thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother2 usury of money1 usury of victuals1 usury of anything that is lent upon usury4 ,unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury2 but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury3 that the ,lord thy ,god may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it4 ,while there is no reference to poverty in this passage and the prohibition cannot fairly be limited to loans to the poor1 a shadow of permission to exact usury is found in the clause3 unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury4 ,hebrews1 who have been anxious to obey the letter of the ,mosaic law1 while indifferent to its true spirit1 have construed this into a permission to exact usury of all ,gentiles4 ,christian apologists for usury1 who have not utterly discarded all laws given by ,moses as effete and no longer binding1 have tried hard to show that this clause authorizes the general taking of interest4 ,to do this it is wrested from its natural connection1 and the true historic reference is ignored4 ,three classes of persons1 that were called strangers1 may be noted for the purpose of presenting the true import of this passage4 #a4 ,those were called strangers who were not of ,hebrew blood1 but were proselytes to the ,hebrew faith and had cast their lot with them4 ,they were mostly poor1 for not belonging to any of the families of ,jacob1 they had no landed inheritance4 ,the gleanings of the field and the stray sheaf were left for the fatherless1 the poor1 and these proselyted strangers4 ,but they were to be received in love1 and treated in all respects as those born of their own blood4 ,ex4 #ab3dh1 #di3 ,and when a stranger shall sojourn with thee1 and will keep the passover to the ,lord1 let all his males be circumcized1 and then let him come near and keep it2 and he shall be as one that is born in the land3 for no uncircumcized person shall eat thereof4 ,one law shall be to him that is home born1 and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you4 ,lev4 #bd3bb3 ,ye shall have one manner of law1 as well for the stranger1 as for one of your own country3 for ,i am the ,lord your ,god4 ,num4 #i3ad3 ,and if a stranger shall sojourn among you1 and will keep the passover unto the ,lord2 according to the ordinance of the passover1 and according to the manner thereof1 so shall he do3 ye shall have one ordinance both for the stranger1 and for him that was born in the land4 ,num4 #ae3ae1 #af3 ,one ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation1 and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you1 an ordinance forever in your congregations3 as ye are1 so shall the stranger be before the ,lord4 ,one law and one manner shall be for you1 and for the stranger that sojourneth with you4 ,of these strangers it is explicitly said they are to be treated precisely as brethren of their own blood4 ,lev4 #be3ce1 #cf3 ,and if thy brother be waxen poor1 and fallen in decay with thee1 then thou shalt relieve him3 yea1 though he be a stranger1 or a sojourner2 that he may live with thee4 ,take thou no usury of him1 or increase3 but fear thy ,god2 that thy brother may live with thee4 #b4 ,there was also another class of strangers1 including all the nations that were not of ,hebrew blood1 by which they were surrounded4 ,these traded with them and often sojourned for a more or less extended period among them for merely secular purposes1 but never accepted their faith4 ,for this reason they were often called sojourners4 ,with us1 in law1 the former strangers would be known as naturalized citizens1 these as denizens1 residents in a foreign land for secular purposes4 ,these denizens were to be dealt with justly1 to be treated kindly and even with affection1 remembering their long sojourn as strangers in ,egypt4 ,ex4 #bb3ba3 ,thou shalt neither vex a stranger1 nor oppress him3 for ye were strangers in the land of ,egypt4 ,ex4 #bc3i3 ,also thou shalt not oppress a stranger3 for ye know the heart of a stranger1 seeing ye were strangers in the land of ,egypt4 ,they were denizens1 but not citizens of ,egypt four hundred years4 ,lev4 #ai3cc1 #cd3 ,and if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land1 ye shall not vex him4 ,but the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you1 and thou shalt love him as thyself2 for ye were strangers in the land of ,egypt3 ,i am the ,lord your ,god4 ,this class of denizens or sojourners was also to be treated with the same kindness as their own blood4 ,lev4 #be3ce1 #cf3 ,and if thy brother be waxen poor1 and fallen in decay with thee1 then thou shalt relieve him3 yea1 though he be a stranger1 or a sojourner2 that he may live with thee4 ,take thou no usury of him1 or increase3 but fear thy ,god3 that thy brother may live with thee4 ,the sojourner or denizen is here distinguished from the stranger who had been naturalized1 adopting their faith4 #c4 ,there was another class called strangers4 ,this class was limited to the inhabitants of their promised land4 ,robinson's ,bible ,encyclopedia says1 on this clause3 ',unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury4' ,in this place ,god seems to tolerate usury toward strangers3 that is the ,canaanites and other people devoted to subjection1 but not toward such strangers against whom the ,hebrews had no quarrel4 ,to exact usury is here1 according to ,ambrose1 an act of hostility4 ,it was a kind of waging war with the ,canaanites and ruining them by means of usury4 ,god withheld his chosen people from taking possession of the promised land until their iniquity was full and the divine sentence of condemnation had been pronounced against them4 ,they were to be rooted out of the land and utterly destroyed for their sins1 and their land given to the chosen people4 ,god declared that he would execute his sentence1 driving them out before them1 as his people should increase and be able to occupy the land4 ,ex4 #bc3bc1 #bh-cb3 ,for mine angel shall go before thee1 and bring thee in unto the ,amorites1 and the ,jebusite1 and ,i will cut them off4 ,and ,i will send hornets before thee1 which shall drive out the ,hivites1 the ,canaanite1 and the ,hittite1 from before thee4 ,i will not drive them out from before thee in one year2 lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field multiply against thee4 ,by little and little ,i will drive them out from before thee1 until thou be increased1 and inherit the land4 ,and ,i will set my bounds from the ,red ,sea even unto the sea of the ,philistines1 and from the desert unto the river3 for ,i will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand2 and thou shalt drive them out before thee4 ,thou shalt make no covenant with them1 nor with their gods4 ,ex4 #cd3aj-ab3 ,and he said1 ,behold1 ,i make a covenant3 before all thy people ,i will do marvels1 such as have not been done in all the earth1 nor in any nation3 and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the ,lord3 for it is a terrible thing that ,i will do with thee4 ,observe thou that which ,i command thee this day3 behold1 ,i drive out before thee the ,amorite1 and the ,canaanite1 and the ,hittite1 and the ,perizzite1 and the ,hivite1 and the ,jebusite4 ,take heed to thyself1 lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest1 lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee4 ,they were in no way to covenant with this people and interfere with the execution of divine judgment4 ,they were commanded1 willing or unwilling1 to be in a measure the executioners of those under sentence4 ,these people of ,canaan were deprived of all rights by the divine sentence and the ,israelites were not to grant any4 ,to do so was direct disobedience1 and yet most of the tribes failed to obey the command1 permitting many of the inhabitants to remain4 ,when the ,gibeonites deceived ,joshua and secured a pledge1 the pledge of their lives was kept1 but they were made slaves1 doomed to drudgery forever1 hewers of wood and drawers of water4 ,josh4 #i3bc4 ,this compromise was contrary to the divine command for their utter destruction4 ,to condone the guilt of these people1 or to interfere with their execution1 was as flagrant a violation of law as that of a modern community that seeks to protect criminals1 or that interferes with the execution of those convicted of capital crimes4 ,this class of strangers had no rights that ,hebrews were permitted to respect4 ,they were not to be given any privileges4 ,they were to be treated as ,hindoo widows are treated1 accursed of the gods and hated of men4 ,debts were not to be forgiven them4 ,the year of ,jubilee did not affect them4 ,they remained enslaved forever4 ,the ,sabbath's rest was only incidental1 that there might be a complete cessation of all activities4 ,in the fourth commandment ,deut4 #e3ad1 thy stranger is mentioned after the ox1 ass1 and cattle1 and was given rest for the same reason the beasts are permitted to rest3 ,that thy man-servant and maid-servant may rest as well as thou4 ,they had not the rights of a common servant or slave4 ,the carcass of the animal that died of itself could be given them to eat1 and they could be charged usury4 ,yet this clause has been seized upon by avaricious ,jews as permission to exact usury of all the nations not of ,hebrew blood1 ignoring the fact that when given it was limited to those peoples under the curse of ,god for their iniquities4 ,it can not justly be made to mean that the ,hebrews have a right to treat other nations with less righteousness than they treat their own people4 ,it is an unwarranted broadening to make it a permission to exact usury from all the human race except from ,hebrews4 ,it was chiefly the acting upon this false interpretation1 classing all ,gentiles with these strangers1 accursed of ,god1 that had no rights they were permitted to respect1 that set every ,gentile ,christian's hand against the ,jews for fifteen hundred years4 ,nothing more clearly marked the line between ,christian and ,hebrew during fifteen centuries than this one thing1 that the ,hebrews exacted usury or interest of the ,gentiles while the ,christians were unanimous in its denunciation1 and forbade its practice4 ,gentile ,christian apologists for the taking of usury or interest1 to overcome the force of this prohibition1 are compelled to grant that ,christians may be less brotherly than ,hebrews3 that the borrowers whether ,christian or not are strangers to those who make them loans upon increase4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,david ,,and ,,solomon4 ,devout ,hebrews during the period of the ,judges obeyed the ,mosaic prohibition of usury or interest4 ,it was also recognized as binding and obeyed during the reigns of ,david and ,solomon4 ,this was a greatly prosperous period when commerce flourished and trade was extended to the ends of the earth4 ,david was weak before certain temptations and his falls were grievous1 but his repentance was deep and his returns to ,god were sincere4 ,he never failed to regard ,god as supreme over him and the bestower of all his blessings4 ,he is called the man after ,god's own heart1 and it is also said that his heart was perfect before ,god4 ,his spirit of devout worship has never been surpassed4 ,his ,psalms1 in all the ages1 have been accepted as expressing the true yearning after righteousness and a longing for closer communion with ,god4 ,david1 in the fifteenth ,psalm1 expresses the thought of the earnest and reverent worshippers of his time4 ,this ,psalm declares the necessity of moral purity in those who would be citizens of ,zion and dwellers in the holy hill4 ,lord1 who shall abide in thy tabernacle8 ,who shall dwell in thy holy hill8 ,he that walketh uprightly1 and worketh righteousness1 and speaketh the truth in his heart4 ,he that backbiteth not with his tongue1 nor doeth evil to his neighbor1 nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor4 ,in whose eyes a vile person is condemned2 but he honoreth them that fear the ,lord4 ,he that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not4 ,he that putteth not out his money to usury1 nor taketh reward against the innocent4 ,he that doeth these things shall never be moved4 ,the description1 ,he that putteth not out his money to usury1 is direct and unqualified4 ,there could be no mistaking its meaning4 ,those who were guilty could not claim to be citizens of ,zion4 ,there is no qualifying clause behind which the usurer could take refuge and escape condemnation4 ,this ,psalm1 prepared by the king1 was chanted in the great congregation1 and was a prick to the consciences of the sinners and a public reproof of all the sins mentioned4 ,he that putteth out his money to increase received thus a public reproof in the great worshipping assembly4 ,solomon1 endowed with unequaled wisdom and able so clearly to discern the right1 places among his proverbs a direct denunciation of this sin4 ,prov4 #bh3h3 ,he that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance1 he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor4 ,in this proverb the gain of usury is classed with unjust gain that shall not bless the gatherer4 ,this is in entire harmony with other proverbs in which those who practice injustice and oppression are declared to be wanting in true wisdom and receive no benefit themselves4 ,the righteousness of the upright shall deliver them3 but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness4 ,as righteousness tendeth to life2 so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death4 ,whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way1 he shall fall himself into his own pit2 but the upright shall have good things in possession4 ,rob not the poor1 because he is poor3 neither oppress the afflicted in the gate3 for the ,lord will plead their cause1 and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them4 ,usury and unjust gain are joined by ,solomon as sins of the same nature4 ,it is also implied that they are necessarily connected with want of sympathy and helpfulness toward the poor4 ,they are presented as an oppression that shall not bless the oppressor4 ,this proverb does not confine the evil to the borrower like the proverb1 ,the borrower is servant to the lender4 ,the wrong is not confined to those of the poor to whom loans may be made4 ,the oppression of usury is upon all the poor though they are not borrowers4 ,they are the ultimate sufferers though the loan may be made by one rich man to another to enable him to engage in some business for profit4 ,usury is so bound up with injustice that its practice cannot fail to result in increasing the hard conditions of all the poor4 ,solomon's reign was brilliant1 and the ships of his commerce entered every port in the known world1 yet usury was not necessary and was not practiced in that prosperous age4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,denunciation ,,of ,,jeremiah ,,and ,,ezekiel4 ,the ,hebrew nation reached its summit of power and glory during the reign of ,king ,solomon1 but corruption crept in and disintegration followed1 and a series of conflicts between portions of the kingdom4 ,the laws given by ,moses were neglected1 and a long period of gross sinning followed4 ,they were warned by the faithful yet hopeful prophet ,isaiah that the overthrow of their nation was certain1 and that their people would be carried captive to a strange land unless they forsook utterly their sins and turned to righteousness4 ,they did not heed and the predicted calamities came upon them4 ,in the midst of these calamities the contemporary prophets ,jeremiah and ,ezekiel ministered4 ,they differed greatly in their dispositions4 ,jeremiah was a complainer4 ,always bemoaning his own and his people's hard lot4 ,the ,lamentations are recognized as the best extant expression of unmitigated grief4 ,he lamented his birth because he was treated as a usurer and oppressor1 when he had never exacted usury1 nor had business with usurers4 ,jer4 #ae3aj3 ,woe1 is me1 my brother1 that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth4 ,i have neither lent on usury1 nor have men lent to me on usury2 yet every one of them doth curse me4 ,ezekiel was always patient1 faithfully proclaiming his messages1 and suffering in silence4 ,the completeness of his self-control and patient suffering is shown in the short but pathetic description of the death of his beloved wife1 yet at the divine command he repressed his grief and delivered his message the following morning4 ,ezekiel #bd3ae-ah3 ,also the word of the ,lord came unto me1 saying1 ,son of man1 behold1 ,i take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke2 yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep1 neither shall thy tears run down4 ,forbear to cry1 make no mourning for the dead1 bind the tire of thy head upon thee1 and put on thy shoes upon thy feet1 and cover up thy lips1 and eat not the bread of men4 ,so ,i spake of people in the morning2 and at even my wife died2 and ,i did in the morning as ,i was commanded4 ,these prophets were familiar with the same scenes4 ,they met the same sins4 ,some have thought they exchanged messages1 sending them respectively to ,jerusalem and ,chaldea for encouragement and confirmation4 ,this was the opinion of ,jerome4 ,in a catalogue of the sins prevailing in ,jerusalem1 for which the judgment of ,god came upon them1 this prophet places ,usury and increase4 ,ezekiel #bb3 #g-ab3 ,in thee have they set light by father and mother3 in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger3 in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow4 ,thou hast despised mine holy things1 and hast profaned my ,sabbaths4 ,in thee are men that carry tales to shed blood3 and in thee they eat upon the mountains3 in the midst of thee they commit lewdness4 ,in thee have they discovered their father's nakedness3 in thee have they humbled her that was set apart for pollution4 ,and one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife2 and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law2 and another in thee hath humbled his sister1 his father's daughter4 ,in thee have they taken gifts to shed blood2 thou hast taken usury and increase1 and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion1 and hast forgotten me1 saith the ,lord ,god4 ,it would not be easy to give a list of more gross and flagrant sins than those associated with usury in this passage4 ,they are all1 always and everywhere1 sinful4 ,in no condition can they be lawful and right4 ,one of the answers familiar to both ,jeremiah and ,ezekiel when the people were reproved for their sins and exhorted to forsake them1 that the divine judgments might be removed1 was this1 that their sufferings were not on their own account1 but for the sins of their fathers4 ,they thus met the charge of personal sins and claimed their sufferings were inherited and unavoidable4 ,their fathers had indulged in sin and they must reap the consequences4 ,they complained that this was hardness in ,god4 ,they expressed this murmur by a proverb4 ,jer4 #ca3bi3 ,the fathers have eaten a sour grape1 and the children's teeth are set on edge4 ,the answer of the prophet ,jeremiah briefly is1 that every one shall answer for his own sin4 ,jer4 #ca3cj3 ,but every one shall die for his own iniquity3 every man that eateth the sour grape1 his teeth shall be set on edge4 ,this same proverb was repeatedly given to ,ezekiel1 as an excuse for continuing in sins1 even when the judgments of ,god were upon them4 ,the word of the ,lord came more fully and explicitly to him4 ,ezekiel declares that the sins of the fathers were visited on the children only when they continued in their father's iniquity4 ,that those who forsook the sins of their fathers and were righteous1 were free from the punishment of the unrighteous parents4 ,ezekiel #ah3a-ag3 ,the word of ,god came unto me again1 saying1 ,what mean ye1 that ye use this proverb concerning the land of ,israel1 saying1 ,the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge4 ,as ,i live1 saith the ,lord ,god1 ye shall not have occasion to use this proverb in ,israel4 ,behold1 all souls are mine2 as the soul of the father1 so also the soul of the son is mine3 the soul that sinneth1 it shall die4 ,but if a man be just1 and do that which is lawful and right1 and hath not eaten upon the mountains1 neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of ,israel1 neither hath defiled his neighbor's wife1 neither hath come near to a menstruous woman1 7i4e4 neither hath committed a rape17 and hath not oppressed any1 but hath restored to the debtor his pledge1 hath spoiled none by violence1 hath given his bread to the hungry1 and hath covered the naked with a garment4 ,he that hath not given forth upon usury1 neither hath taken any increase1 that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity1 hath executed true judgment between man and man4 ,hath walked in my statutes1 and hath kept my judgments1 to deal truly2 he is just1 he shall surely live1 saith the ,lord ,god4 ,if he beget a son that is a robber1 a shedder of blood1 and that doeth the like to any one of these things2 and that doeth not any of those duties but even hath eaten upon the mountains1 and defiled his neighbor's wife1 hath oppressed the poor and needy1 hath spoiled by violence1 hath not restored the pledge1 and hath lifted his eyes to the idols1 hath committed abomination1 hath given forth upon usury1 and hath taken increase3 ,shall he then live8 ,he shall not live3 he hath done all these abominations2 he shall surely die2 his blood shall be upon him4 ,now1 lo1 if he beget a son1 that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done1 and considereth1 and doeth not such like3 that hath not eaten upon the mountains1 neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of ,israel1 hath not defiled his neighbor's wife1 neither hath oppressed any1 hath not withholden the pledge1 neither hath spoiled by violence1 but hath given his bread to the hungry1 and hath covered the naked with a garment1 that hath taken off his hand from the poor1 that hath not received usury or increase1 hath executed my judgments1 hath walked in my statutes2 he shall not die for the iniquity of his father1 he shall surely live4 ,it will be noticed that usury or increase is here mentioned among the grossest and foulest sins of which that people were guilty4 ,they are placed by the prophet in the worst possible company4 ,he classifies them among those things that can never be right4 ,there is no qualification of increase great or small1 nor of usury whether the loan be domestic or commercial1 whether for personal need1 or to go into business1 whether the borrower be poor or rich4 ,usury is mentioned as malum per se4 ,usury and increase are treated as sinful in themselves1 just as fraud1 violence1 impurity1 and idolatry are sinful1 and can never be innocent unless their very natures are reversed4 ,when there is fraud without dishonesty1 and violence without injury1 and adultery without impurity1 and idolatry without false worship1 then may there be usury and increase without injustice and oppression4 ,some sins in themselves and by reason of several aggravations are more heinous in the sight of ,god than others1 the prophet ,ezekiel places usury or increase in the list of abominations4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,financial ,,reform ,,by ,,nehemiah4#a ,after seventy years of captivity of the ,hebrews in ,chaldea an edict was issued by ,cyrus the king permitting their return to ,judea4 ,the most earnest and devout had been restless and homesick in the strange land4 ,the restoration was led by ,zerubbabel who accompanied by about five thousand of the most devout men from the various families1 made their way over the long return to their former home4 ,this was only about one-sixth of the captive population4 ,many preferred to remain in the land they had now adopted1 and where some had been prospered1 and some were perhaps less fervent in their religious zeal4 ,this fraction of the people1 however1 determined to re-erect their temple and to cultivate the fields again that were given to their fathers and to rebuild the nation1 the tradition of whose glory never failed to stir their hearts4 ,eighty years later another company under the priest and scholar1 ,ezra1 authorized by ,artaxerxes1 joined the first colony that had returned to re-occupy their own land4 ,a few years later another company was led by the patriot1 ,nehemiah4 ,nehemiah was in an honorable and lucrative position in the first court upon earth1 yet he grieved over the misfortunes of his own people1 and especially over the reported distress of the returned exiles4 ,he sought leave of absence and a commission to return and co-work with his brethren for their complete re-establishment at ,jerusalem4 ,the leave of absence was cheerfully granted and a broad commission given to take with him any who wished to return4 ,the revenues of the king were placed at his disposal and the governors of the provinces were ordered to assist and further his work4 ,a large company of the earnest and devout returned with him1 confident of his protection and in sympathy with his mission4 ,he deliberately reviewed the work to be done1 made careful plans and was greatly successful4 ,the people were obedient4 ,they cheerfully endured the privations and dangers in their devotion to their country1 and in the hope of retrieving the fortunes of their depressed people4 ,enemies appeared1 who threatened to estop their work1 but some worked while others watched1 with arms in hand1 ready to defend4 ,some wrought with one hand and held a weapon for ready defence in the other4 ,nehemiah and his aides1 and many of the people1 did not take off their clothes1 but were on duty constantly--so devoted were they to the cause in which they were engaged1 regaining their homes and re-establishing the worship of their fathers and rebuilding the nation4 ,but there was a strange interruption in this patriotic work4 ,a sordid covetousness possessed their nobles and rulers4 ,while the people were absorbed in their patriotic service1 these persons were planning successfully to despoil them4 ,a cry of distress came to the ears of ,nehemiah4 ,the people found1 now that they had made the sacrifice and suffered deprivations and cheerfully given their labors for the common good1 they were deprived of their blessings and enslaved4 ,this enslavement was not to foreign rulers1 but to those of their own blood4 ,a division had grown up among their own kindred4 ,some had grown rich and become their masters4 ,others were in hopeless poverty4 ,the distinctions came gradually or grew up among them1 possibly unobserved3 the rich becoming richer and the poor poorer1 until the nobles held their lands and were selling their sons and daughters as chattels4 ,this condition was hopeless1 after all their struggles for nearly a hundred years to re-establish their institutions4 ,neither they nor their children could1 under those conditions1 enjoy the fruit of all their efforts4 ,this was no fault of theirs4 ,there had been times of dearth and harvest failure1 when some with large families were in need4 ,the king's tribute1 too1 was heavy upon them and some were not able to pay and they were compelled to borrow1 but had to give mortgages upon their land as security4 ,now lands1 homes and all1 had passed to the creditors and they were despondent and helpless4 ,this cry caused ,nehemiah great distress1 but ,nehemiah was not like ,ezra1 a devout and learned priest1 but without executive power1 who in a like position gave way to unmitigated grief4 ,nehemiah was equally patriotic and conscientious1 but he was also a strong leader and an independent commander4 ,he did not call together the nobles and rulers charged with oppression and ask them what he should do4 ,he had none of their counsel4 ,he took counsel with himself1 his own conscience1 his own judgment1 and worked out an independent1 individual policy which he should pursue4 ,his sympathy was with the suffering people1 and he determined to espouse their cause and to correct their wrongs4 ,he then called the nobles and rulers and charged them to their face with oppression4 ,he laid the ax at the root of the tree and charged the fault to their covetousness1 to the exacting of usury or interest4 ,it was this1 he declared1 that had brought them to wealth1 but driven others to poverty4 ,he demanded reparation4 ,when they were slow to yield1 he called a convocation of the people and aroused them to a due sense of the wrong they had been enduring1 and laid bare the sins of the rulers and nobles4 ,he showed the oppression by comparing their sordid and greedy conduct with the unselfish1 self-sacrifice of himself and others for the common good4 ,while he and the patriotic people were busy with hand and brain in rebuilding the nation and fighting the enemies1 these usurers were busy getting in their work of ruin1 gathering the property into their own hands and enslaving the patriots4 ,the usurers were not able to withstand this onslaught of the chief commander and the aroused people1 and they made no reply4 ,their conduct had so evidently been contrary both to the letter and spirit of their own law1 they were compelled to yield and to say meekly1 ,we will do as you have said4 ,then he stated the terms and conditions of the reform he would institute4 #a4 ,they must return the pledges they had taken for debts1 without reserve4 ,the people must not be deprived of their land1 tools1 or instruments of production4 ,the foreclosure of mortgages must be set aside and the people again given possession of their lands4 #b4 ,interest must be returned or credited upon the debts4 ,if the interest equaled the debt1 then the debt was fully discharged4 ,if more than the principal had been paid1 then it must be returned in money or in the product of lands taken in foreclosure1 the wine or oil or fruits and grains must be returned4 ,thus only could the wrongs be corrected and righteous adjustment be made4 ,there then followed a general restoration of pledges and a cancelling of debts that had been paid once in interest1 and a repaying of any surplus4 #c4 ,they must take a solemn vow that this sin shall henceforth be unknown among them4 ,the law against usury or interest must henceforth be carefully obeyed4 ,these distinctions that had grown up among them must disappear forever1 and the cause of the poverty of the many and the wealth of the few must be shunned4 ,to these conditions the usurers assented1 made ashamed by the conduct of the noble patriot in contrast with their own selfishness1 though they had not yielded until awed and compelled by the indignation of the people1 which ,nehemiah had enkindled against them4 ,this positive enforcement of the law against the taking of increase on any loan1 makes unmistakably clear the interpretation of the law by the devout1 earnest1 sincere1 ,god-fearing ,hebrews1 down to the close of the ,old ,testament ,canon4 #a ,references3 ,ezra1 ,nehemiah1 ,bible ,dictionaries4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,teachings ,,of ,,the ,,master4 ,psalmist and prophets had sung of the exalted character of the coming ,messiah4 ,thou art fairer than the children of men3 grace is poured into thy lips4 ,and his name shall be called ,wonderful1 ,counselor1 ,the ,mighty ,god1 ,the ,everlasting ,father1 ,the ,prince of ,peace4 ,at his coming he lifted to a higher plane1 by his precepts and example1 the ideal of a true1 noble and worthy human life4 ,by his teachings and by his life of utter unselfishness he revealed clearly the exalted character and conduct that conformed to the ,divine will4 #a4 ,our ,lord's character forbids that we should think of him for a moment as devoted to the gathering of worldly wealth4 ,he came to minister unto1 not to serve himself4 ,self-seeking was foreign to his nature4 ,a great truth was spoken by the scoffers4 ,he saved others1 himself he cannot save4 ,he who strives to follow in his footsteps cannot serve himself4 ,the whole drift of a great unselfish ,christ-like soul must be for others4 ,the whole current of his thought and effort during his life must be1 to be helpful to others4 ,studying and striving to help others1 he cannot seek wealth4 ,ye cannot serve ,god and mammon4 ,it is out of harmony with the whole life and all the teachings of the ,master that he should encourage or permit a means of increasing wealth forbidden by the laws given by ,moses and classed among the vilest of sins by the prophets4 #b4 ,again3 ,he did not undo the teachings of the prophets1 but enlarged their scope4 ,he showed by word and example how the true spirit of the teachings of the old dispensation led to self-sacrifice for the welfare of others4 ,matt4 #e3ag3 ,think not that ,i am come to destroy the law1 or the prophets3 ,i am not come to destroy but to fulfill4 ,fulfill1 here1 is more than to obey4 ,it is in antithesis with destroy1 and means to perfect and complete4 ,the old ceremonial forms of religious worship1 pointed to the advent of one who should be a perfect sacrifice for sin1 typified by the daily sacrifice of bulls and rams4 ,the sacrifice typified1 was completed in ,him4 ,the moral enactments were not set aside1 but they were given a completed meaning2 that is they were made to reach beyond the external to the hidden desires and affections of the heart4 ,he taught that mere external compliance was not sufficient in the ,all ,seeing ,eye4 ,the affections and desires of the soul must be in agreement4 ,thus we have the explanation of the law of chastity1 completed1 requiring purity of the soul4 ,so murder is not merely the external act1 but the law for murder1 completed1 forbids enmity or hatred hidden in the heart4 ,the requirements for mutual helpfulness were also perfected or completed4 ,the old law required the helping of a brother in need4 ,deut4 #ae3g1 #h3 ,if there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in the land which the ,lord thy ,god giveth thee1 thou shalt not harden thy heart1 nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother4 ,but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him1 and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need1 in that which he wanteth4 ,this was completed so as to extend the help to all sufferers1 though not kindred nor friendly1 and though they may not be able nor willing to repay4 ,luke #f3ce3 ,but love ye your enemies1 and do good1 and lend1 hoping for nothing again2 and your reward shall be great1 and ye shall be the children of the ,highest3 for he is kind unto the unthankful1 and to the evil4 ,the old law permitted the lender to take a pledge to secure the return of as much again1 that is1 the loan without interest4 ,the ,master enjoins being helpful though the principal should never be repaid4 ,to take a pledge or mortgage and add the interest would greatly harden the conditions for the borrower4 ,it would be a step backward and not forward in the way of helpfulness to others4 ,again1 the year of ,jubilee was a kind of legal time limit to debts4 ,all obligations were then cancelled4 ,no debt could be collected4 ,the selfish ,hebrew feared to make a loan shortly before ,jubilee lest it should not be repaid promptly and his claim would become worthless4 ,deut4 #ae3i3 ,beware that there be no thought in thy wicked heart1 saying1 ,the seventh year1 the year of release is at hand2 and thine eye be evil toward thy poor brother1 and thou givest him naught2 and he cry unto the ,lord against thee and it be sin unto thee4 ,in his heart the old ,hebrew might have a desire to press his claim but the law protected the debtor4 ,this law for the release of the debtor from the payment of principal without interest is completed so as to require sincere and hearty forgiveness4 ,our ,lord taught his disciples to ask for forgiveness of ,god only as they forgave their debtors1 ,matt4 #f3ab3 ,and forgive us our debts1 as we forgive our debtors4 ,the commercial terms here used show this to be the completion of the law as touching the creditor and his released debtor4 #c4 ,again1 he broke down the artificial barriers1 the distinction of ,hebrew and ,gentile1 ,greek and ,barbarian1 bond and free4 ,the love and sympathy and helpfulness among men was no longer to be limited to such narrow bounds1 but must be wide as the race4 ,who is my neighbor8 is so answered that every man must be neighbor to every other man1 and the object of his care and help4 ,all are of one blood1 and all ,god's children4 ,he gave one law for all classes and conditions in all times4 ,he so expounded the old commandments and so condensed them1 that they became the one law of love4 ,whosoever is governed by supreme love to ,god1 and loves his neighbor as himself1 has fulfilled the law4 ,he would thus bind all men together1 and all to the throne of ,god1 by the one bond of love4 ,but he further intensified the obligations of love1 by his own special command4 ,john #ae3ab3 ,this is my commandment1 that ye love one another1 as ,i have loved you4 ,and he adds it to the decalogue1 ,john #ac3cd3 ,a new commandment ,i give unto you1 that ye love one another as ,i have loved you that ye also love one another4 ,this new command requires that men shall love their brethren above themselves and be ready to sacrifice for their welfare4 ,as he gave his life1 so also he commanded that men should sacrifice for their fellows4 ,those who hear his voice and have the spirit of obedience go to the ends of the earth1 and make any sacrifice that may be required for the uplifting of fallen men4 ,the law forbidding the ,hebrews exacting usury of their brethren1 of the stranger who had accepted their faith and kept the passover1 of the stranger1 sojourner who dwelt among them1 of everybody except the ,canaanite who was under the condemnation of ,god1 could not have been annulled or suspended by the divine ,master who thus draws together and embraces as one family the whole race4 ,the ties of ,christian brotherhood are not less strong than the ties of ,hebrew blood4 ,the converts from heathen to ,christian faith are not less dear to the missionary than the proselytes to the ,hebrew faith were to the ,pharisees4 ,the foreigner who comes into a ,christian community must not be treated with less justice and kindness than the wandering ,arab who strolled into ,jerusalem for a trade4 ,it cannot be that the relation between ,christians is like that between the ,hebrew and the criminal ,canaanites who were convicted of capital crimes and under sentence of death4 ,as usury was repugnant to that spirit of justice and brotherly love that obtained in the ,hebrew ,state1 much more is it repugnant to that closer brotherhood into which we are drawn by the divine ,lord4 #d4 ,again1 ,he was a friend of the poor and lowly4 ,this was foretold by the song of the virgin1 when assured that she should be the mother of the ,savior4 ,luke #ea3eb1 #ec3 ,he hath put down the mighty from their seats1 and exalted them of low degree4 ,he hath filled the hungry with good things2 and the rich ,he hath sent empty away4 ,the prophets foretold that ,he should be the friend of the poor4 ,he pointed ,john to the fulfilment of these prophecies in proof of his ,messiahship4 ,in his first address in the explanation of the new dispensation he began by saying1 ,blessed are the poor in spirit4 ,the literal rendering would be1 ,blessed are the poor1 to the ,spirit4 ,this is the dative singular with the definite article4 ,he is speaking of external conditions as contrasted with spiritual blessings1 and those conditions thought wretched in the world were especially favorable for the development of grace4 ,the poor1 humble1 mourning1 suffering1 and persecuted were especially blessed in his kingdom4 ,the word rendered poor does not mean pauper4 ,there is a great difference4 ,the poor may be industrious1 self-reliant and self-supporting4 ,there is no hint of dependence4 ,in ,luke he says1 ,blessed are ye poor4 ,when at the rich man's table1 he told his host that he would be more blessed if he should make the next feast to the poor and defective1 that could make him no return4 ,he was uncompromising in his denunciation of the rich4 ,luke #f3bd3 ,but woe unto you that are rich1 for ye have received your consolation4 ,he showed the danger of riches in the parable of the sower4 ,matt4 #ac3bb3 ,he also that received seed among thorns is he that heareth the word2 and the care of this world1 and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word1 and it becometh unfruitful4 ,where grace is to be cultivated and flourish1 the greed of gain must not enter4 ,the young man who came to him1 whom he loved for his sweet disposition and excellent character1 he turned away by the answer that his wealth was incompatible with his salvation4 ,he must part from his riches4 ,when the disciples were surprised1 he made it more emphatic1 ,matt4 #ai3bd3 ,and again ,i say unto you1 it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle1 than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of ,god4 ,and when they felt that this made salvation impossible1 he declared it could only be possible by the exercise of omnipotent1 divine grace4 ,zaccheus1 the one rich man whose conversion is recorded1 surrendered his ill-gotten gain fourfold and gave away half of the remainder before salvation came to his house4 ,the temptation to trust and lean upon riches is irresistible4 ,our ,lord did not make wealth more dangerous than under the ,mosaic dispensation by removing the restraint that was there put upon it4 ,as a friend to the poor he did not give wealth an advantage it did not have before4 #e4 ,the whole drift of his teachings limited and restrained accumulation of wealth4 ,the parable of the rich fool is a forcible presentation of its human folly on the earthly side4 ,whose shall these things be8 ,lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth1 where moth and rust doth corrupt1 and where thieves break through and steal3 ,but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven1 where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt1 and where thieves do not break through and steal3 ,for where your treasure is1 there will your heart be also4 ,the result is irresistible2 when engaged in storing earthly treasure1 the heart will be earthly2 or if laying up treasures in heaven1 the heart will reach heavenward4 ,he who labors for a heavenly reward1 will be heavenly minded4 ,treasures are stored for eternity1 when used for the bringing out of that which shall survive the grave2 for the bringing out the highest divine type of manhood and womanhood1 in ourselves1 in our children1 and in all the children of men4 ,treasures expended in the development of immortals shall be found when the earthly and temporal scenes have passed away4 ,that which is expended in the uplifting of the race shall be our eternal reward4 ,giving1 giving1 not hoarding is commended4 ,productive industry he enforced by his example1 the carpenter that wrought for his daily bread4 ,he chose workmen to be his followers4 ,he taught economy in the command to take up the fragments of the food miraculously created that nothing be lost1 yet unreserved giving was the lesson he inculcated and illustrated in his life4 ,to follow his example1 we must produce and produce much1 yet what we gain is to be expended1 so as to promote the highest welfare of all mankind4 ,we must not store the fruits of our labor1 but expend1 not as a spendthrift who wastes1 but judiciously and wisely for ,god and man4 ,our giving is only limited by the ability and facility to produce4 ,our ,lord did not greatly add to the temptation to hoard by delivering the earthly treasures from the decay by moth and rust and instead permitting their increase4 ,our hoarding of earthly treasures must be limited1 because of our disposition to trust in them4 ,we must always be so dependent that we shall pray truly with the spirit of dependence1 ,give us this day our daily bread4 ,give me neither poverty nor riches2 feed me with food convenient for me4 ,thrift does not require that we shall hoard an amount that will support us through life1 much less that we shall lay up a fortune1 that shall free our children from the necessity of productive labor4 ,the spirit of the ,master's teachings is1 that each age shall produce and spend its product for its own advancement1 then each succeeding age shall be better fitted to produce and care for itself and so advance the coming generations4 ,go work today in my vineyard4 ,now is the time to give and do for the generation yet unborn4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,parables ,,of ,,the ,,talents ,,and ,,the ,,pounds4 ,our ,lord mentions usury by name only in the parables of the talents and pounds4 ,matt4 #be3ad-cj2 ,luke #ai3ab-bg4 ,usury is mentioned in these passages incidentally to meet the excuses of worthless servants1 but in both as the unjust and oppressive act of a hard and dishonest man4 ,these references to usury are in entire harmony with the expressions of ,david and ,solomon1 and of ,jeremiah and ,ezekiel4 ,these servants in the parables were slaves1 who owed their service to their master and for whom he was responsible4 ,the lesson in both parables is the necessity of faithfulness4 ,the faithful servants are rewarded and the unfaithful punished in both4 ,yet there is a special lesson in each4 ,the parable of the talents shows that an equal reward shall be given all who are equally faithful1 though the means and opportunities afforded one may far exceed those granted another4 ,one was given five talents and another but two2 one gained five and the other two1 yet both equally faithful1 are directed to enter into the joy of their lord4 ,the unfaithful servant brings his talent with an excuse1 which is a charge against the character of his master1 ,i knew thee that thou art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown1 and gathering where thou hast not strewed1 so there thou hast which is thine4 ,the master in reply showed the inconsistency of the excuse by assuming that he bore the hard character charged upon him by his slave1 ,thou wicked and slothful servant1 thou knewest that ,i reap where ,i sowed not1 and gather where ,i have not strewed3 ,thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers1 and then at my coming ,i should have received mine own with usury4 ,it is interest in the ,revised ,version4 ,this interview may be paraphrased as follows3 ,the unfaithful servant said3 ,i know the kind of a man you are4 ,you are dishonest4 ,you take what does not belong to you4 ,you reap what other people sow1 and you take up what others earn4 ,i was afraid of you3 ,here is all that you gave me and all that belongs to you4 ,the master said3 ,you are merely excusing yourself4 ,you are a lazy faithless slave4 ,if ,i am the hard man you say ,i am1 taking what does not belong to me and gathering the sowings and earnings of others1 you could have met that condition without trouble to yourself1 by giving my money to the usurers and then at my coming ,i could have received my unjust gain4 ,your excuse is inconsistent1 you condemn yourself4 ,you are an indolent and worthless slave4 ,begone to your punishment4 ,it is clearly implied that unearned increase1 reaping and gathering without sowing1 could be gained through the exchangers4 ,if this was what was demanded1 the servant could have secured this with no effort on his part4 ,his charge against the master was a mere pretence to excuse his own want of personal faithfulness1 and the master's reply was fitted to this pretense4 ,this is in entire harmony with the opinion our ,lord expressed of the exchangers when he called them thieves and drove them out of the temple4 ,it would be wholly inconsistent for him to advise an honest and faithful servant to place any portion of the property in their hands4 ,his advice can only come from the standpoint of a dishonest master such as his servant called him4 ,the parable of the pounds shows the degrees of faithfulness in those who have equal opportunities4 ,with the same opportunities one may far surpass another1 because more faithful to his trust1 his reward is proportionately greater4 ,in this parable each servant received the same1 but the gains and rewards differ4 ,by diligence one gained ten pounds and is commended and given authority over ten cities4 ,another gained five pounds4 ,he is also commended and given authority over five cities4 ,another1 who had given no service1 came with his pound but without increase4 ,this was a proof of his unfaithfulness4 ,he endeavors to shield himself like the servant with the talent1 by charging injustice and oppression on his master4 ,i feared thee because thou art an austere man3 thou takest up that thou layest not down1 and reapest that thou didst not sow4 ,his master turned on him because his own reason was inconsistent with his conduct and a mere shield for his indolence and worthlessness4 ,out of thine own mouth will ,i judge thee1 thou wicked servant4 ,thou knowest that ,i was an austere man1 taking up that ,i laid not down1 and reaping that ,i did not sow4 ,wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank1 that at my coming ,i might have required mine own with usury4 ,this interview may also be paraphrased4 ,the unfaithful slave came and said3 ,lord ,i have carefully kept all that thou gavest me4 ,i knew that thou wast an exacting master1 taking what did not belong to you and gathering what others sow4 ,the master says3 ,now stop right there and ,i will judge you by your own excuse out of your own mouth4 ,you say you knew me to be exacting and dishonest1 taking more than belonged to me4 ,now1 knowing this1 why did you not serve me by giving my money to the bank1 and then at my coming you could have brought me my money with my unjust gain and that would have pleased a hard man like me1 without effort on your part4 ,you are only giving this as an excuse for your own unfaithfulness4 ,you are a wicked slave4 ,the master admits that he would be a hard man1 if he reaped what another sowed1 or took up what belonged to another1 but assuming that this was his character1 even this could have been met without trouble to the slave through the bank4 ,this is a clear recognition of usury as unjust gain4 ,exchangers were little more than the pawn-brokers of today and a bank was a pawn-shop where pledges were stored4 ,the money loaned upon any pawn was much less than its full value4 ,the increase of the loan soon made it more than the value of the pledge which was then forfeited1 and the pawn was sold by the broker4 ,these parables are here dwelt upon1 for they are so frequently misunderstood and misapplied4 ,in a large volume on ,banking1 the writer found the words of the master quoted1 ,wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank1 that at my coming ,i might have required my own with usury4 ,and they were quoted as a solemn direction of the divine ,master to deposit money in the bank4 ,to quote from these parables in the defense of usury is as flagrant a perversion of the truth as the famous quotation to prove that ,paul encouraged theft4 ,let him that stole1 steal4 ,the lessons of these parables are in entire harmony with the law of ,moses and the teachings of the prophets and ,nehemiah4 ,in these parables the usurer is presented as a hard man1 exacting that which he has not earned and to which he has no right4 ,the teachings of the ,master did not permit what had been forbidden in all the ages4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,practice ,,of ,,the ,,disciples4 ,the conditions in the very early church were not such as to make prominent the sin of usury4 ,many of the disciples were very poor and from the humblest walks of life4 ,i ,cor4 #a3bg-bh3 ,but ,god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise2 and ,god hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty2 and the base things of the world1 and things which are despised1 hath ,god chosen1 yea1 and the things which are not1 to bring to nought things that are4 ,the practice of the disciples was1 however1 in entire harmony with the teachings of ,moses and the ,master1 and in accord with the prohibition of usury4 ,later1 in the time of the apostolic fathers when the church came face to face with this sin1 there was but one voice and that in the denunciation1 for the fathers were unanimous in its condemnation4 7#a7 ,the first disciples did not loan1 but gave to their needy brethren4 ,the early converts held their property so subject to a general call that some have thought they had a community of goods4 ,acts #b3dd1 #de3 ,and all that believed were together1 and had all things common2 99 99 99 and sold their possessions and goods1 and parted them to all men1 as every man had need4 ,it is evident they did not assist their brethren with loans1 but with gifts2 much less did they take the opportunity to secure increase on loans4 ,the suffering poor were their especial care4 ,they gave of their poverty for the relief of the suffering4 ,many called by the ,spirit were in want1 and many came to want through the severe persecutions to which they were subjected4 ,this was especially true of the converts in ,jerusalem4 ,for these large collections were received from the churches in ,macedonia and in ,corinth4 ,they were commanded to care for the needy of their own house4 ,i ,tim4 #e3h3 ,but if any provide not for his own1 and especially for those of his own house1 he hath denied the faith1 and is worse than an infidel4 ,paul1 in giving directions to ,timothy1 as to the care of their poor1 requires aid to be given to widows indeed1 those who have no children2 but those who have children or nephews are to look to them and be supported by them1 and if any person refuses to care for his widowed mother or grandmother or dependent aunt1 he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel4 7#b7 ,they were diligent in business4 ,they provided things honest in the sight of all men4 ,paul set the example during his itinerate ministry by working at his trade to secure his support and his dictum has been accepted as both divine and human wisdom ever since4 ,if any will not work neither shall he eat4 ,diligence was enjoined for self-support1 and that others might be helped4 ,eph4 #d3bh3 ,let him that stole1 steal no more2 but rather let him labor1 working with his hands1 the things which is good1 that he may have to give to him that needeth4 ,the effort was first by labor to be independent and then also to come to the relief of the feeble1 the sick1 the poor1 and the needy4 ,that a man could honestly secure a livelihood without productive labor was foreign to their way of thinking4 ,if any did not work he did not deserve a living1 nor was he an honest man4 ,no one was at liberty to be idle4 ,productive effort must not be relaxed4 ,there was no retiring for the enjoyment of a competency4 ,there was no thought of such a provision to free them from the effort for the daily bread4 ,the surplus product was given for the aid of others1 to those who had claims of kinship first1 then to all who had need4 ,the instant a man failed to produce he began to consume4 ,there is no hint anywhere that it entered any of their minds that they could stop production and live in ease from the increase of what they had produced and the supply grow no less2 that the meal and oil should not fail1 but be handed down unimpaired to their children4 7#c7 ,covetousness was hated and denounced and classed with the most flagrant violations of the moral law4 ,covetousness is an inordinate regard for wealth of any kind4 ,this may be shown in the greed of seeking it1 without proper regard for the rights of others2 or in parsimony or stinginess in holding it1 when there are rightful claims upon it4 ,james #e3a-f3 ,go to now1 ye rich men1 weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you4 ,your riches are corrupted1 and your garments are moth eaten4 ,your gold and silver is cankered2 and the rust of them shall be witness against you1 and shall eat your flesh as it were fire4 ,you have heaped treasure together for the last days4 ,behold1 the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields1 which is of you kept back by fraud1 crieth3 and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the ,lord of ,sabbath4 ,ye have lived in pleasure on the earth1 and been wanton2 ye have nourished your hearts1 as in a day of slaughter4 ,ye have condemned and killed the just1 and he doth not resist you4 ,covetousness may also be shown in undue respect for wealth when in the hands of others4 ,this is reproved in ,james #b3a-g4 ,my brethren1 have not the faith of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,lord of glory1 with respect of persons4 ,for if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring1 in goodly apparel1 and there come also a poor man in vile raiment2 and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing1 and say unto him1 ,sit thou here in a good place2 and say to the poor man1 ,stand thou there1 or sit here under my footstool3 ,are ye not then partial in yourselves1 and become the judges of evil thoughts8 ,hearken1 my beloved brethren1 hath not ,god chosen the poor of this world rich in faith1 and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised them that love him8 ,but ye have despised the poor4 ,do not rich men oppress you1 and draw you before the judgment seats8 ,do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called8 ,covetousness was a secret sin often indulged when the outward forms of righteousness were observed4 ,usurers were the open representatives of flagrant covetousness in all the ages4 ,usury was not named among them as becometh saints4 7#d7 ,the early disciples kept out of debt4 ,the early ,christians were not borrowers4 ,in both dispensations borrowing was only resorted to in hard necessity4 ,the borrower was second to the beggar4 ,the borrowing was but for a short time1 and the loan was returned as soon as absolute wants were supplied4 ,the doctrine and practice of the early church was to owe no man anything4 ,rom4 #ac3h3 ,owe no man anything1 but to love one another3 for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law4 ,indebtedness was to be avoided as compromising the faith in the eyes of others and detrimental to the development of grace in the disciples4 ,this was the direct command of ,paul4 ,this commandment required the payment of all honest obligations4 ,the ,christian then as now who failed to acknowledge his obligations and meet them in full as he was able was wanting in the spirit of righteousness and unfaithful to his own convictions of right and duty4 ,the payment of a debt was the return in full of the loan received4 ,any ,christian conscience at that time would have been satisfied with the settlement approved and commanded by ,nehemiah4 ,the debt was fully discharged when payments equaled the loan by whatever name those payments were called4 ,this text also required that they keep out of debt4 ,by no distortion of the text can it be made to mean less4 ,chalmers on this passage comments as follows3 ,but though to press the duty of our text in the extreme and rigorous sense of it--yet ,i would fain aspire towards the full and practical establishment of it1 so that the habit might become at length universal1 not only paying all debts1 but even by making conscience never to contract1 and therefore never to owe any4 ,for although this might never be reached1 it is well it should be looked at1 nay moved forward to1 as a sort of optimism1 every approximation to which were a distinct step in advance1 both for the moral and economic good of society4 ,for1 first1 in the world of trade1 one can not be insensible to the dire mischief that ensues from the spirit often so rampant1 of an excessive and unwarrantable speculation--so as to make it the most desirable of all consummations that the system of credit should at length give way1 and what has been termed the ready-money system1 the system of immediate payments in every commercial transaction1 should be substituted in its place4 ,the adventurer who1 in the walks of merchandise1 trades beyond his means is often actuated by a passion as intense1 and we fear too1 as criminal1 as is the gamester1 who in the haunts of fashionable dissipation1 stakes beyond his fortune4 ,but it is not the injury alone1 which the ambition that precipitates him into such deep and desperate hazards1 brings upon his own character1 neither is it the ruin that the splendid bankruptcy in which it terminates brings upon his own family4 ,these are not the only evils which we deprecate--for over and above these there is a far heavier disaster1 a consequence in the train of such proceedings1 of greatly wider and more malignant operation still1 on the habit and condition of the working classes1 gathered in hundreds around the mushroom establishment1 and then thrown adrift among the other wrecks of its overthrow1 in utter helplessness and destitution on society4 ,this frenzy of men hasting to be rich1 like fever in the body natural1 is a truly sore distemper in the body politic4 ,no doubt they are also sufferers themselves1 piercing their own hearts through with many sorrows2 but it is the contemplation of this suffering in masses1 which the sons and daughters of industry in humble life so often earn at their hands1 that has ever led me to rank them among the chief pests and disturbers of a commonwealth4 ,to this may be added an extract from ,short ,instructions for ,early ,masses by the ,paulist ,fathers4 ,the fact of the matter is1 dear brethren1 that there is too much laxity of conscience among our people on this question of contracting debts1 of borrowing money1 of running up bills with little or no hope of ever paying them4 ,we have all of us no doubt come across people who consider themselves quite religious who owe money to their neighbors for years1 and never make an effort to pay what they owe or even to offer an excuse for their negligence in such important matters4 ,there are some professional debtors who think the world owes them a living1 and who spend a good part of their time figuring out how much they can get out of the land and from those who dwell thereon4 ,to have to pay rent is their greatest grievance1 and after being trusted for a few months1 they find it much cheaper to move to other quarters than to pay what they owe4 ,then there are others who must dress extravagantly1 no matter what it costs1 and in consequence have nothing left to pay for the things they eat or drink4 ,do they on this account deny themselves any of the good things of this life8 ,not at all2 on the contrary1 every business man will tell you the same story--these people want the best and are the most exacting in their demands4 ,now1 ,i repeat1 there is too much laxity about contracting debts and too little conscience about the necessity of paying for what we use4 ,st4 ,paul's warning should ring in the ears of every debtor3 ,owe no man anything4 ,it will not do for such people to come to confession and say they contracted debts and are not able to pay what they owe4 ,confession will not relieve them of their obligation1 and they must begin at once and make an effort to lessen the debts they owe in the past and learn a lesson in economy and strive against contracting new burdens4 ,this will help us to clear off the old ones4 ,it is not edifying1 nor is it conducive to good fellowship1 nor does it help to make our religion better known and better loved1 to find people1 dressed in the finest1 coming ,sunday after ,sunday to mass while they are heavily in debt to their grocer or butcher or landlord1 who may be in the very same pew with them4 ,this is certain1 it convinces such men in business that the debtor's religion is not very sincere4 ,in a word1 brethren1 it is far better to live in less pretentious dwellings1 dress more soberly and eat more sparingly than to owe any man anything4 ,pay what thou owest1 and then you may walk honestly among all men4 ,freedom from debt is necessary to the independence of the man who does right and answers only to ,god4 ,struggle as he may the man is not free who is under obligations to others4 ,he is hindered in his conduct2 he is not always conscious of it1 but nevertheless there is a real binding or fettering of his actions4 ,it influences his gifts1 for what he holds is not his own and the owner may criticize his benevolence4 ,an easy conscience and sound sleep is the portion of the man who is under no obligations to another4 ,he looks the whole world in the face1 who owes no man a cent4 ,he is free from distracting business relations with his brethren and brotherly love may abound4 ,the exhortation of ,paul is in connection with brotherly love1 and of all external relations1 debt hinders the free flow of sympathy among brethren4 ,the early disciples endeavored to avoid all debt4 ,much less did they pay a premium for the privilege4 ,they only borrowed in hard necessity2 but borrowing on usury to make a profit by it was as repellant to the ,christian conscience then as complicity with theft or fraud4 ,it marked a man as anxious to share in unrighteous gain4 ,his own conscience placed him among those who are discontented with their lawful estate and guilty of that covetousness which is idolatry4 ,i ,tim4 #f3f-aa3 ,but godliness with contentment is great gain4 ,for we brought nothing into this world1 and it is certain we can carry nothing out4 ,and having food and raiment1 let us be therewith content4 ,but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare1 and into many foolish and hurtful lusts1 which drown men in destruction and perdition4 ,for the love of money is the root of all evil3 which while some coveted after1 they have erred in the faith1 and pierced themselves through with many sorrows4 ,but thou1 ,o man of ,god1 flee these things2 and follow after righteousness1 godliness1 faith1 love1 patience1 meekness4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,church ,,history4 ,the ,church1 from the time of the apostles1 was emphatic in its denunciation of usury4 ,schaff-,herzog says3 ,all the apostolic fathers condemned the taking of usury4 ,the ,encyclopedia of ,religious ,knowledge declares the same4 ,chrysostom said3 ,nothing is baser in this world than usury1 nothing more cruel4 ,basil describes a scene so real that we can scarcely realize that he wrote over fifteen hundred years ago4 ,after stating the usurer's protestations of having no money1 to the victim1 who seeks a loan without interest1 he says3 ,then the suppliant mentions interest and utters the word security4 ,all is changed4 ,the frown is relaxed2 with a genial smile he recounts old family connections4 ,now it is ',my friend1 ,i will see if ,i have any money by me4 ,yes1 there is that very sum which a man1 ,i know1 has left in my hands in deposit for profit4 ,he named a very heavy interest4 ,however1 ,i will certainly take something off and give it to you on better terms4' ,with pretenses like this he fawns on the wretched victim and induces him to swallow the barb4 ,of the man who has borrowed on interest1 he says3 ,at first he is bright and joyous and shines with another's splendor 99 99 99 now night brings no rest1 no sun is bright4 ,he hates the days that are hurrying on1 for time as it runs adds the interest to its tale4 ,the fathers unanimously condemned the taking of interest1 ,tertullian1 ,cyprian1 ,ambrose1 ,augustine and ,jerome can be quoted against it4 ,the popes followed the teachings of the fathers and forbade it under severe penalties4 ,the priests guilty of this sin were degraded from their orders4 ,the laymen found guilty were excommunicated4 ,interest paid could be reclaimed1 not only from the usurer but from his heirs4 ,a bargain1 though confirmed by an oath never to claim back the interest paid1 was declared not binding4 ,this action of the popes was confirmed by councils4 ,charlemagne1 in ,france1 forbid the taking of usury either by priests or laity4 ,a council at ,westminster 7#aabf7 approved the degradation of all clergy1 who were guilty of this practice4 ,archbishop ,sands said3 ,this canker 7usury7 hath corrupted all ,england4 ,a council in ,vienna 7#acaa7 reaffirmed the denunciations of previous popes and councils1 and then adds3 ,if any shall obstinately persist in the error of presuming to affirm that the taking of usury is not a sin1 we decree that he shall be punished as a heretic4 ,there is no record of the repeal of any of these edicts4 ,the leaders of the ,protestant reformation also denounced usury4 ,luther was violent in his opposition1 using the strongest language he could command4 ,whoever eats up1 robs and steals the nourishment of another1 commits as great a murder1 as he who carves a man or utterly undoes him4 ,such does a usurer1 and he sits the while on his stool1 when he ought rather to be hanging from the gallows4 ,melancthon1 ,beza and others are accounted against usury4 ,the decisions of ,ecclesiastical ,councils were numerous and emphatic until the seventeenth century4 ,since that time interest taking has become common1 all but universal1 but there is no record found anywhere of its direct approval by any ecclesiastical body4 ,the ,church has come to tolerate it but has never given it official approval4 ,usury has not been included in any creed or confession of faith1 nor has it been directly approved by any council or general assembly4 ,the truth has not been left in any age without its witness4 ,there have always been those more or less prominent in the ,church who contended that it was unjust and oppressive4 ,some of them have been of world-wide distinction4 ,the writer has a letter written him by ,john ,clark ,ridpath1 the historian1 expressing his agreement with the views presented in these pages4 ,another of these is brilliant ,john ,ruskin1 recently deceased4 ,quotations from him will close this review4 ,i have not so perverted my soul nor palsied my brain as to expect to be advantaged by that adhesion 7usury74 ,i do not expect that because ,i have gathered much to find ,nature or man gathering more for me2 to find eighteen pence in my box in the morning instead of the shilling as a reward of my continence1 or to make an income of my ,koran by lending it to poor scholars4 ,if ,i think he can read it and will carefully turn the leaves by the outside1 he is welcome to read it for nothing4 ,thus in all other possible or conceivable cases1 the moment our capital is increased by having lent it1 be it but the estimation of a hair1 that hair-breadth of increase is usury1 just as much as stealing a farthing is theft no less than stealing a million4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,calvin',s ,,letter ,,on ,,usury4 ,a mere hint of encouragement to the usurer came from ,calvin4 ,in a letter1 to a friend1 he hesitatingly expressed opinions that have ever since been quoted in defense of the practice4 ,he alone of all the reformers took a doubtful stand4 ,he has often been referred to and given great credit for his opinion1 even by those who utterly reject all the doctrines he most earnestly advocated4 ,the fear that he expressed near the opening1 that some word might be seized to take more license than he would allow had reason1 for this letter has been the basis for all the apologies for usury that have ever been attempted4 ,in these last days all who have tried to present fully the moral law as comprehended in the ten commandments have felt called upon to make some apology for the prevailing practice of usury in connection with the eighth command4 ,they all refer to this letter4 ,sometimes there is a brief quotation1 given in ,latin and left untranslated1 to convince the ignorant1 for ,calvin wrote in ,latin4 ,letter of ,calvin3 ,de ,usuris ,responsum4 ,i have not yet essayed what could fitly be answered to the question put to me2 but ,i have learned by the example of others with how great danger this matter is attended4 ,for if all usury is condemned tighter fetters are imposed on the conscience than the ,lord himself would wish4 ,or if you yield in the least1 with that pretext1 very many will at once seize upon unlicensed freedom1 which can then be restrained by no moderation or restriction4 ,were ,i writing to you alone ,i would fear this the less2 for ,i know your good sense and moderation1 but as you ask counsel in the name of another1 ,i fear1 lest he may allow himself far more than ,i wish by seizing upon some word1 yet confident that you will look closely into his character and from the matter that is here treated judge what is expedient1 and to what extent1 ,i shall open my thoughts to you4 ,and first1 ,i am certain that by no testimony of ,scripture is usury wholly condemned4 ,for the sense of that saying of ,christ1 ',lend1 hoping for nothing again' 7,luke #f3ce71 has up to this time been perverted2 the same as another passage when speaking of splendid feasts and the desire of the rich to be received in turn1 he commands them rather to summon to these feasts1 the blind1 the lame1 and other needy men1 who lie at the cross-roads and have not the power to make a like return4 ,christ wished to restrain men's abuse of lending1 commands them to lend to those from whom there is no hope of receiving or regaining anything2 and his words ought to be interpreted1 that while he would command loans to the poor without expectation of repayment or the receipt of interest1 he did not mean at the same time to forbid loans to the rich with interest1 any more than the injunction to invite the poor to our feasts did not imply that the mutual invitation of friends to feasts is in consequence prohibited4 ,again the law of ,moses was political and should not influence us beyond what justice and philanthropy will bear4 ,it could be wished that all usury and the name itself were first banished from the earth4 ,but as this cannot be accomplished it should be seen what can be done for the public good4 ,certain passages of ,scripture remain in the ,prophets and ,psalms in which the ,holy ,spirit inveighs against usury4 ,thus a city is described as wicked because usury is practiced in the forum and streets1 but as the ,hebrew word means frauds in general1 this cannot be interpreted so strictly4 ,but if we concede that the prophet there mentions usury by name1 it is not a matter of wonder that among the great evils which existed1 he should attack usury4 ,for wherever gains are farmed out1 there are generally added1 as inseparable1 cruelty1 and numberless other frauds and deceits4 ,on the other hand it is said in praise of a pious and holy man 'that he putteth not out his money to usury4' ,indeed it is very rare for a man to be honest and yet a usurer4 ,ezekiel goes even further 7,ezek4 #bb3ab74 ,enumerating the crimes which inflamed the wrath of the ,lord against the ,jews1 he uses two words1 one of which means usury1 and is derived from a root meaning to consume2 the other word means increase or addition1 doubtless because one devoted to his private gain takes or rather extorts it from the loss of his neighbor4 ,it is clear that the prophets spake even more harshly of usury because it was forbidden by name among the ,jews1 and when therefore it was practiced against the express command of ,god1 it merited even heavier censure4 ,but when it is said1 that as the cause of our state is the same1 the same prohibition of usury should be retained1 ,i answer that there is some difference in what pertains to the civil state4 ,because the surroundings of the place in which the ,lord placed the ,jews1 as well as other circumstances1 tended to this1 that it might be easy for them to deal among themselves without usury1 while our state today is very different in many respects4 ,therefore usury is not wholly forbidden among us unless it be repugnant both to ,justice and to ,charity4 ,it is said1 ',money does not beget money4' ,what does the sea beget8 ,what does a house from the letting of which ,i receive a rent8 ,is money born from roofs and walls8 ,but on the other hand both the earth produces and something is brought from the sea which afterward produces money1 and the convenience of a house can be bought and sold for money4 ,if therefore more profit can be derived from trading through the employment of money than from the produce of a farm1 the purpose of which is subsistence1 should one who lets some barren farm to a farmer1 receiving in return a price or part of the produce1 be approved1 and one who loans money to be used for profit be condemned8 ,and when one buys a farm for money does not that farm produce other money yearly8 ,and whence is derived the profit of the merchant8 ,you will say from his diligence and his industry4 ,who doubts that idle money is wholly useless8 ,who asks a loan of me does not intend to keep what he receives idle by him4 ,therefore the profit does not arise from the money1 but from the product that results from its use or employment4 ,i therefore conclude that usury must be judged1 not by a particular passage of ,scripture1 but simply by the rules of equity4 ,this will be made clearer by an example4 ,let us imagine a rich man with large possessions in farms and rents1 but with little money4 ,another man not so rich1 nor with such large possessions as the first1 but has more ready money4 ,the latter being about to buy a farm with his own money1 is asked by the wealthier for a loan4 ,he who makes the loan may stipulate for a rent or interest for his money and further that the farm may be mortgaged to him until the principal is paid1 but until it is paid1 he will be content with the interest or usury on the loan4 ,why then shall this contract with a mortgage1 but only for the profit of the money1 be condemned1 when a much harsher1 it may be1 of leasing or renting a farm at large annual rent1 is approved8 ,and what else is it than to treat ,god like a child1 when we judge of objects by mere words and not from their nature1 as if virtue can be distinguished from vice by a form of words4 ,it is not my intention to fully examine the matter here4 ,i wished only to show what you should consider more carefully4 ,you should remember this1 that the importance of the question lies not in the words but in the thing itself4 ,those acquainted with ,calvin's ,institutes will not fail to notice the timid manner in which he treats the subject1 as if uncertain of his ground and endeavoring to excuse usury to please his friend4 ,this letter is wanting in that positive air of assured certainty that breathes inspired authority and lends a charm to his ,institutes4 ,he is nearest himself when he bursts out1 ,it could be wished that all usury and the name itself were banished from the earth4 ,the letter is here given in full because often more force is carried by the reference to a great name than by the study of his argument4 ,a careful reading of this letter does not reveal a positive approval of usury4 ,he merely excuses it by suggesting other evils that he thinks worse2 for instance1 that land rentals may be worse than the usury of money4 ,he does not mention the necessary oppression of the poor tenants by the loan upon a mortgage4 ,it is proof of the weakness of the case when this letter is the most favorable that can be presented from any ecclesiastic4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,permanency ,,of ,,the ,,prohibition4 ,it is sometimes urged that the law of ,moses with regard to usury was not intended to be permanent but was only a wise and beneficent regulation for that people in their peculiar condition2 that as the ceremonial was done away by the incoming of the ,new ,testament dispensation1 so this prohibition was annulled and should be reckoned among the effete laws of the ancient ,hebrews4 ,in answer to this contention it may be replied3 7#a7 ,this prohibition is not ceremonial4 ,it has no connection with the rites and forms of their religion4 ,it touches their character and conduct but has no place in their forms of worship4 7#b7 ,nothing can be presented from the ,mosaic laws to prove that this prohibition was only of a temporary character4 ,it is in entire harmony with the spirit of helpfulness and especially the protection of the weak1 that is so characteristic of the ,mosaic order4 ,no induction from any of the ,old ,testament writers can be fairly made to limit its application4 ,the prophets place usury in the catalogue of sins that are always and everywhere offensive to ,god4 ,nehemiah condemns it as destructive to personal and civic freedom4 7#c7 ,there is no hint of its discontinuance in the new dispensation4 ,the ,master gave a spiritual completeness to this law as he did to all enactments requiring external moral character4 ,he classed the usurers1 in his parables1 among the dishonest1 who took up what they had not laid down4 ,the disciples1 in their poverty and persecutions1 were not specially tempted by this sin1 and it is not therefore prominent in their history4 ,but there is nothing in their teachings or practice that is not in entire harmony with the binding continuance of the ,mosaic prohibition1 and their practice and teaching are just such as we should expect from ,christian people in their condition and circumstances who recognized the prohibition as permanent4 7#d7 ,the apostolic fathers1 as the church grew and came into contact with the world and was beginning to share in the business of the world1 to a man1 regarded the prohibition as in full force and its observance as one of the marked characteristics of the ,christian1 distinguishing him from the worldling and the ,jew4 ,conditions in the apostolic age did not make this prominent but when the conditions were changed and the church came in conflict with this sin1 it is clearly seen that the law was in a continuous binding force through the whole period4 ,the later fathers were of the opinion1 unanimously1 that it was in full force1 not temporary or provincial1 but binding for all time and upon all people4 ,that it is suspended is a modern idea1 a suggestion of the world to the church within the last few hundred years4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,our ,,changed ,,conditions4 ,the changed conditions of the race in these last years are urged as a sufficient reason for annulling this law4 ,it is admitted that it was righteous and beneficent in ages long past but with the new light and new conditions of the present it is effete1 inapplicable and unjust4 ,they call attention to the vast extension of commerce1 to the marvelously increased facilities for travel1 transportation and intercommunication2 to the innumerable and wonderful inventions that in their application have brightened our civilization4 ,they exalt present conditions and they belittle the long past conditions and thought4 ,the prohibition of usury belonged to the past1 the practice of usury is all but universal in the present1 therefore they argue that usury is a part and a necessary part of our civilization and to revive the old prohibition would turn the world's civilization backward and be as absurd as to now dispense with steam or electricity4 ,in reply it may be said that the changes are not universal1 that there are some things that abide1 that the changes are trifling when compared with those things that remain and are permanent4 #a4 ,human nature remains the same4 ,man1 in body and mind1 in physiology and psychology1 has not changed in these thousands of years4 ,that which in ages past promoted the health and vigor of his body1 will secure its best development now4 ,that discipline1 culture and mental exercise that secured the highest intellectual strength in ages past will do the most for its best development now4 ,many things that now give splendor to our civilization do not promote either the best physical or mental manhood4 #b4 ,family ties remain4 ,the relation of husband and wife1 of parents and children1 and the duties of their several positions in the home have not changed4 ,the family remains the social unit as it has been in all ages4 ,sociology1 the science of social and political organization1 is a permanent science4 ,it does not change with the shifting temporal conditions of the people4 ,those things which made for the general welfare of ages ago are for the public weal now1 and those things that endangered the state then are to be avoided now4 #c4 ,the moral law remains unchanged and unchangeable1 with all the brilliant present there is no amendment to the ten commandments4 ,the ethical nature remains and the voice of conscience1 approving the same right and condemning the same wrong1 is identical with the voice of conscience in the time of ,moses4 #d4 ,the laws of nature have not changed4 ,the relation between a cause and its sequence remains4 ,like causes produce like effects4 ,no living thing has changed its nature4 ,a lion now is of the same nature that it was in the time of ,samson4 ,so with every savage beast that roams the jungle4 ,even the domesticated animals1 with all the effort and skill of intelligent man1 have only been smoothed or speeded a little4 ,the horse1 cow1 sheep1 or dog have held their old forms and dispositions4 ,seed time and harvest come and go and we are dependent for the same shower and sunshine that gave ,adam his first harvest4 ,we know some things they did not know and we have bettered our tools1 but the natural world has shown no signs of change4 #e4 ,the relation of things to each other have not changed4 ,plants must have soil to grow in1 animals must have vegetation to feed upon4 ,fish must have water4 ,and so with the thousands of relations of climate1 elements1 soils1 plants1 animals1 fishes1 birds and insects1 they are the identical relations sustained ages and ages ago4 #f4 ,the nature of money has not changed4 ,its material and form and denominations have been modified but the functions of money as a storage of values and as a measure of values and as a medium of exchange remain the same4 ,our gold and silver and paper money may be more convenient and more exact1 but its functions are just the same as the ,indians' wampum4 ,the law of supply and demand and the equity in commercial transactions1 great or small1 are unchanged4 ,money could always be used to make or gather more money in business4 ,it is no more true now than in the times of ,david or ,nehemiah4 ,if this had not then been possible2 if there had not been tempting opportunities1 there would have been no sin of usury for them to reprove4 ,man's changed conditions are but trifling and incidental1 relating to himself4 ,they do not affect a single natural or moral or economic law4 ,the changed conditions1 which are urged as a reason that the prohibition of usury is no longer binding1 are only the conditions brought about by the violation of that law4 ,the prohibition of usury is systematically violated4 ,the neighbor in the smallest transaction with his neighbor exacts usury1 though it be but a few cents4 ,the credit system has become universal4 ,it is the rare exception now to own what you have and to pay as you go4 ,interest bearing bonds are issued by the smallest manufacturing plant1 by the great corporation and by the empire4 ,these conditions do not prove usury right4 ,they only show how far true business1 commercial1 and political principles have been perverted by this practice4 ,if violating a law annuls it1 then any law can be pushed aside4 ,let the claims of the ,sabbath day be ignored4 ,let the houses of worship remain closed upon that day4 ,let work be planned for seven days of the week4 ,let the hum of the mills and the roar of commerce go on4 ,take no note of the ,sabbath day1 either in business or recreation or worship1 and conditions will soon be upon us1 such that we may urge as plausibly1 that the ,sabbath is effete1 possible to our slow going fathers but inconsistent with the necessary rush of our day4 ,if the systematic violation of a law annuls it then we can quiet the conscience and be dishonest while dealing with a ,turk in ,constantinople and we may lie while dickering with a ,chinese merchant in ,canton4 ,if violating a law annuls it1 even the seventh commandment1 the violation of which is so offensive to decency and its observance so necessary to the purity of the home1 may in this way be ruled out as a binding obligation4 ,let polygamy be the order1 supported by the example of ,jacob and ,david and ,solomon1 and the families be constituted along that line1 then enforced monogamy would seem to be a sundering of tender ties and hardness toward the cast off ,hagars that is inconsistent with the ,christian spirit4 ,an earnest1 ,godly man1 a missionary friend of the writer1 under whose ministry a heathen chief was converted1 was misled by the plausibility4 ,the chief had a number of wives2 he had children by them2 he was much attached to his wives and was fond of his children1 and they all seemed to love him and clung to him4 ,the missionary in the kindness of his heart did not interfere with the family1 permitting the chief to keep his wives and placed his name on the church roll of the ,mission4 ,for this act he was reproved by the ecclesiastical authorities above him4 ,let polygamy become as universal as usury and even the seventh commandment in its strictness will seem impracticable and unkind if not positively cruel4 ,it will not do to claim freedom from the prohibition of usury because we have organized commerce and the state and all society in violation of it4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,american ,,revision4 ,the ,revision by the ,american ,committee is the latest effort of scholarship to bring ,king ,james' ,version up to date by eliminating effete terms and using words in their modern sense4 ,the references to usury are here collated so as to give a general view of the question from the translations of the passages in this the latest ,revision4 ,the reader will notice that the modern word interest is substituted for usury in nearly every passage4 ,exodus #bb3be3 ,if thou lend money to any of my people with thee that is poor1 thou shalt not be to him as a creditor2 neither shall ye lay upon him interest4 ,leviticus #be3ce-cg3 ,and if thy brother be waxen poor1 and his hand fail with thee1 then thou shalt uphold him3 as a stranger and a sojourner shall he live with thee4 ,take thou no interest of him or increase1 but fear thy ,god2 that thy brother may live with thee4 ,thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest1 nor give him thy victuals for increase4 ,deuteronomy #bc3ai1 #bj3 ,thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother3 interest of money1 interest of victuals1 interest of anything that is lent upon interest3 unto a foreigner thou mayest lend upon interest1 but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest1 that ,jehovah thy ,god may bless thee in all that thou puttest thy hand unto1 in the land whither thou goest in to possess it4 ,nehemiah #e3g-aj3 ,then ,i consulted with myself1 and contended with the nobles and rulers and said unto them1 ,ye exact usury1 every one of his brother4 ,and ,i held a great assembly against them4 ,and ,i said unto them1 ,we after our ability have redeemed our brethren the ,jews that were sold unto the nations2 and would ye even sell your brethren1 and should they be sold unto us8 ,then held they their peace and found never a word4 ,also ,i said1 ,the thing ye do is not good3 ought ye not to walk in the fear of our ,god1 because of the reproach of the nations1 our enemies8 ,and ,i likewise1 my brethren and my servants1 do lend them money and grain4 ,i pray you1 let us leave off this usury4 ,the interest exacted by the princes and nobles was no doubt so extortionate that it could be called usury in the modern legal sense4 ,psalm #ae3 ,jehovah1 ,who shall sojourn in thy tabernacles8 ,who shall dwell in thy holy hill8 ,he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness1 ,and speaketh the truth in his heart2 ,he that slandereth not with his tongue1 ,nor doeth evil to his friend1 ,nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor2 ,in whose eyes a reprobate is despised1 ,but who honoreth them that fear ,jehovah2 ,he that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not2 ,he that putteth not out his money to interest1 ,nor taketh reward against the innocent4 ,he that doeth these things shall never be moved4 ,proverbs #bh3h3 ,he that augmenteth his substance by interest and increase1 gathereth it for him that hath pity on the poor4 ,jeremiah #ae3aj3 ,i have not lent1 neither have men lent to me2 yet every one of them doth curse me4 ,king ,james reads3 ,i have neither lent upon usury1 nor have men lent to me upon usury4 ,as ,jeremiah was protesting his innocence of any wrongdoing the early translators inserted what was evidently implied while these latest revisors have omitted what was not in the original text4 ,ezekiel #ah3a-ah3 ,the word of ,jehovah came again unto me saying1 ,what mean ye that ye use this proverb1 concerning the land of ,israel1 saying1 ,the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge8 ,as ,i live saith the ,lord ,jehovah1 ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in ,israel4 ,behold1 all souls are mine1 as the soul of the father so also the soul of the son is mine3 the soul that sinneth1 it shall die4 ,but if a man be just and do that which is lawful and right1 and hath not eaten upon the mountains1 neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of ,israel1 neither hath defiled his neighbor's wife1 neither hath come near to a woman in her impurity1 and hath not wronged any1 but hath restored to the debtor his pledge1 hath taken naught by robbery1 hath given his bread to the hungry1 and hath covered the naked with a garment3 he hath not given forth upon interest1 neither hath taken any increase1 that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity1 hath executed true justice between man and man1 hath walked in my statutes and hath kept my ordinances1 to deal truly3 he is just1 he shall surely live1 saith the ,lord ,jehovah4 ,if he beget a son that is a robber1 a shedder of blood1 and that doeth any one of these things1 and that doeth not any of those duties1 but even hath eaten upon the mountains1 and denied his neighbor's wife1 hath wronged the poor and needy1 hath taken by robbery1 hath not restored the pledge1 and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols1 hath committed abomination1 hath given forth upon interest1 and hath taken increase2 shall he then live8 ,he shall not live3 he hath done all these abominations3 he shall surely die2 his blood shall be upon him4 ,now1 lo1 if he beget a son which seeth all his father's sins which he hath done1 and feareth and doeth not such like2 that hath not eaten upon the mountains1 neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of ,israel1 hath not defiled his neighbor's wife1 neither hath wronged any1 hath not taken aught to pledge1 neither hath taken by robbery1 but hath given his bread to the hungry1 and hath covered the naked with a garment2 that hath not withdrawn his hand from the poor1 that hath not received interest nor increase1 hath executed my ordinances1 hath walked in my statutes2 he shall not die for the iniquity of his father1 he shall surely live4 ,as for his father1 because he cruelly oppressed1 robbed his brother1 and did that which is not good among his people1 behold1 he shall die in his iniquity4 ,ezekiel #bb3f-ab3 ,behold1 the princes of ,israel1 every one according to his power have been in thee to shed blood4 ,in thee have they set light by father and mother2 in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner2 in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow4 ,thou hast despised mine holy things and hast profaned my sabbaths4 ,slanderous men have been in thee to shed blood2 and in thee have they eaten upon the mountains2 in the midst of thee they have committed lewdness4 ,in thee have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness2 in thee have they humbled her that was unclean in her impurity4 ,and one hath committed abomination with his neighbor's wife2 and another hath lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law2 and another in thee hath humbled his sister1 his father's daughter4 ,in thee have they taken bribes to shed blood2 thou hast taken interest and increase1 and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression and hast forgotten me saith the ,lord ,jehovah4 ,matthew #be3bf-bg3 ,but his lord answered and said unto him1 ,thou wicked and slothful servant1 thou knewest that ,i reap where ,i sowed not and gather where ,i did not scatter2 thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers1 and at my coming ,i should have received back mine own with interest4 ,luke #ai3bb1 #bc3 ,he saith unto him1 ,out of thine own mouth will ,i judge thee1 thou wicked servant4 ,thou knewest that ,i am an austere man taking up that ,i laid not down and reaping that ,i did not sow2 then wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank1 and ,i at my coming should have required it with usury4 ,luke #af3ac-ae3 ,no servant can serve two masters3 for either he will hate the one1 and love the other2 or else he will hold to the one and despise the other4 ,ye cannot serve ,god and mammon4 ,and the ,pharisees who were lovers of money heard all these things and they scoffed at him4 ,and he said unto them1 ,ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men but ,god knoweth your hearts3 for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of ,god4 ,it is not easy to understand how an honest1 godly man1 who has even medium intelligence1 unclouded by prejudice1 and who has confidence in the highest scholarship of the age1 can deny that the revealed ,word of ,god1 in both ,testaments1 condemns usury or interest4 ,it is just as difficult to explain how any one1 not glaringly inconsistent1 can claim that interest taking is not a sin1 who bows to the divine authority of the revealed ,word and who defines sin as ,any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of ,god4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,duty ,,learned ,,from ,,two ,,sources4 ,in this discussion we learn our duty from two sources4 ,two authorities are recognized4 ,one is the revelation of ,god in his written ,word4 ,the other is the book of nature2 this includes the ethical nature of man1 his social relations1 and the laws that govern material things4 ,the author of the ,bible is the ,god of nature4 ,they are but two volumes from the same mind and hand4 ,they must speak in harmony when both are understood4 ,truth found in the inspired ,word cannot be contradicted in nature2 and no facts in the works of ,god can be found in conflict with the ,word ,he has spoken4 ,a truth found in either is always consistent with the truths made plain in the other4 ,familiarity with one prepares us to better understand the other4 ,the devout student of the ,word has his mind aroused1 and his susceptibility so quickened that he is able to read more clearly the lessons in the volumes of nature open before him4 ,the student of nature1 who has searched its mysteries and taken in its beauty and designs of infinite wisdom everywhere appearing1 must be the more ready and competent to appreciate the revealed love and grace4 ,the ,bible is not a treatise on natural science1 nor does natural science teach revealed religion1 yet they do not conflict4 ,the special student of either may have perfect confidence that whatever he has found true in his chosen field will be found consistent with truth in other fields of special study4 ,chemistry1 biology and all studies of nature1 are found only to give a higher conception of the ,god of all grace4 ,the same wisdom and power shine out in ,his works that are revealed in ,his ,word4 ,again1 the laws of ,god1 whether fixed in nature or revealed in ,his ,word1 are for the highest interest of the physical1 mental and spiritual man4 ,every truth in the ,word works for the welfare of man's body and soul4 ,the laws of nature1 physical and psychological1 obeyed1 promote man's bodily and mental vigor4 ,strict obedience to the laws of ,god1 as revealed in both ,word and nature1 produces the completest physical and mental manhood4 ,god had the highest welfare of every man at heart when ,he prepared the earth for his abode and gave him dominion over it4 ,and ,he yearned for his deliverance from a fallen estate when ,he gave him a revelation of ,his infinite redeeming love4 ,the eye of ,god is upon each individual of the race1 as upon every sparrow4 ,he has in thought1 in word and in works1 not the favoring of one of an hundred1 while the ninety and nine are crushed or neglected1 but the happiness and highest good of every one of the hundred4 ,the ethics of the ,bible and the ethics of nature1 as wrought out by the earnest heathen philosophers1 mainly agree4 ,it is an astonishment to some that there is so much agreement in the systems of heathen morals and the revealed moral law4 ,the moral law is written on men's hearts1 and can be read there by the diligent and careful student2 but the consciences of men1 enlightened and quickened by the revealed ,word1 produce the highest ethical types the world knows4 ,the ,bible is not a work on political economy1 yet there is nothing out of harmony with the most perfect political institutions4 ,when we find political principles clearly revealed1 we shall find the same truths when we study the most orderly relations of men in their social organization4 ,the ,bible is not a work on economics1 yet it advances no economic principles that work a hardness or injustice to any4 ,when we find economic principles clearly stated1 we shall surely find the same truths confirmed in a careful study of the nature of things4 ,as the written ,word forbids usury or interest1 it can be presumed that the nature of things and man's highest good also forbids it2 that it is not an arbitrary prohibition1 but is given in love because it is in its very nature a ruinous evil4 ,as we find a positive prohibition of taking usury or interest in the old dispensation and the confirmation of it in the new1 both by the words of the ,master and the understanding and practice of the disciples and fathers1 we may confidently expect that it will be confirmed by a correct and careful study of ethics and of the relation of man to things4 ,we may learn duty from either or both sources4 ,to some men the ,bible comes with the greatest clearness and the utmost force of authority4 ,others find in nature their highest conception of the ,infinite1 and their best directions for a correct life4 ,if usury or interest is found to be a sin from the ,word1 there is no need for those to enter into the economic proof who have no taste for this character of study or reasoning4 ,if it is found to be malum per se from the nature of things1 even those who reject the divine revelation must array themselves against it4 ,if it is shown to be evil by both revelation and economic law1 then all peoples1 ,christian and heathen1 should combine against it4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,rights ,,of ,,man ,,over ,,things4 ,man was the last and the crowning work of the ,creator4 ,god made man in his own image and gave him dominion over all creatures4 ,for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels1 and hast crowned him with glory and honor4 ,thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands2 thou hast put all things under his feet3 ,all the sheep and oxen1 yea1 and the beasts of the field2 ,the fowl of the air1 and the fish of the sea1 and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas4 ,this high position is in entire harmony with man's innate consciousness of his superior powers1 and of his nobler spiritual nature1 and of his rightful dominion over all the other material creations4 ,man is a person1 a thinking intelligent being1 and is conscious of his personality1 and from his lofty height he calls all else the lower and the inferior creatures4 ,wherever man is found over the whole earth1 of whatever faith or grade of civilization1 he claims this universal dominion4 ,man was commanded to subdue the earth and bring it into subjection as his servant and he is conscious of his right to use all things to promote his comfort1 convenience and welfare4 ,anything he can make of service to himself he has a right to appropriate4 ,a tree is a thing which he may prepare for his own purposes1 for fuel1 for tools1 or for a dwelling1 as he pleases4 ,isaiah ridiculed the idolater in his time1 who made an idol of wood and worshiped it1 while with another part of the same tree he built a fire and warmed himself4 ,a part he served and a part served him4 ,the whole tree was subject to him2 in itself it had no rights4 ,rights belong to persons1 and not to things1 and personality cannot be transferred to a thing4 ,if there is no personal owner the question of rights is never raised4 ,the tree1 or any thing whatever1 has no rights in the matter4 ,rights belong to the owner1 the person1 not to the thing he owns4 ,the game in the mountain forests and the fish in the rivers are things with no owner and whosoever will may take and use them4 ,land is a thing1 and any person may make it into a farm or garden and build upon it his home4 ,the land has no rights and makes no protest4 ,the whole earth is subject to man and is to be subdued by him4 ,if no owner appears his rights are not disputed4 ,our fathers found an unowned continent1 with all its rich resources of soil and forests and mines4 ,it was to them free1 and with the labor of a few generations they transformed it into farms and plantations and built it over with magnificent cities4 ,even that which formerly was the property of another has no rights4 ,the deserted hunter's hut in the mountains can be appropriated4 ,the abandoned farm does not resist a new tenant4 ,a derelict vessel1 still afloat but driven before the winds1 whose officers1 crew and owners are at the bottom of the sea1 can be appropriated1 for there is no one to dispute the claim4 ,even force or labor in the abstract is but a thing and has no rights4 ,the wind is unowned and any one who will may harness it to do his work4 ,the electric forces of nature are unowned1 whoever will may gather and direct them to do his purpose4 ,the waterfall may be made to do man's work and will not resist4 ,the animals have no rights against man4 ,the broncho1 horse1 ox1 mule1 or animal of any kind1 may be turned to man's service4 ,all the forces of nature were made for man4 ,they have no rights to be regarded1 when his interests can be served4 ,it is man's high privilege to stand above all things1 to call them to his feet and to compel their service4 ,it is the reversion of the order for him to take the subordinate place and serve the inferior creation4 ,things subdued1 such as wealth secured1 is to minister to his highest good and to promote his noblest manhood4 ,the order is reversed when this wealth commands his service and sacrifice4 ,the miser both reverses the divine order and violates common sense by giving the love and service of his shriveling soul to a thing4 ,the usurer and the borrower on usury1 both1 reverse the true order by assuming that a thing can claim man's service4 ,both grant that a thing has rights to be respected4 ,the usurer takes the service as due to the thing he owns4 ,it is his property that is exalted1 and for which he claims the service must be rendered1 and if the borrower will think closely1 he will find that in paying usury he is serving a thing4 ,a man reverses the divine order and degrades himself1 and becomes a gross idolater1 when he serves things unowned instead of commanding their service1 stocks and stones4 ,he reverses the true order when he becomes a miser and serves that which is his own1 which his own fingers have made1 instead of compelling it to serve him4 ,he is not less degraded when he exalts over himself a thing owned by another and serves it4 ,the ownership of another does not change the nature of the thing4 ,one can serve his neighbor's idol as truly as he can his own4 ,there is nothing above man but ,god4 ,his fellow man is by his side1 his equal1 and all other material creations are beneath his feet1 and he is not to permit his fellow man to lift up the inferior thing and place it above him4 ,if he does he must step down from the pinnacle on which he was placed by his ,god and which his own consciousness demands he shall occupy4 ,shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith8 or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it8 as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up1 or as if the staff should lift up itself1 as if it were no wood4 ,isaiah #aj3ae4 ,if he serves the borrowed ax and saw for the claim that the ax and saw have against him1 he admits his debt to things and ,isaiah's ridicule of an idolater can be turned against him and he steps down from the position of conscious inborn dignified lordship and becomes a servant of the inferior things4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,equal ,,rights ,,of ,,men4 ,all men have sacred rights that must be regarded4 ,that these rights are equal is so familiar and stale an expression that it hardly need be spoken4 ,all men are created equal1 each having rights1 that are inalienable1 and each having the right to resist the encroachment on his rights by another4 ,to protect these rights governments are instituted4 ,the vital energy of a man is his own and his right to it must be regarded4 ,since the abolition of chattel slavery this has been indefeasible except for crime4 ,he has a right to his own vital energy and to all that his own vital force produces4 ,he has a right to his property inherited1 earned1 or however secured1 except by fraud4 ,he has no claim against the vital energy of his fellow man1 nor has he any claim whatever against the property of another4 ,the working man needs capital4 ,his vital energy must waste unless there is material upon which it may be expended4 ,there must be the tree1 land or material in some form1 upon which he can work4 ,but give him the world raw and unsubdued and he can transform it again as he has4 ,he can build again everything on land and sea1 the farms1 towns1 and cities1 and the floating palaces4 ,he can again dig out the mines and refine the silver and gold1 mould the clay1 smelt the ore and shape the iron4 ,his needs and his power1 however1 give him no claim to the property of another4 ,the man of property is dependent upon the laborer4 ,he may be the owner of farms1 forests and mines1 of horses1 flocks and herds1 of railroads and oil wells1 yet these will not minister to him nor serve him without the laborer4 ,his coffers may be filled with gold1 and his barns bursting with grain and his stalls filled with fatlings1 yet all this wealth is useless and lost1 unless touched with the vital energy of an intelligent laborer4 ,but his dependence and losses give him no right to the labor of another4 ,he has no right1 no just claim1 to the services of another man1 his equal4 ,all his wealth cannot confer the right4 ,wealth is but a thing1 in itself without rights1 and can therefore add nothing to the rights of its owner4 ,he may however use his wealth to command service by might1 but not by right4 ,a club is but a thing having no will and no rights1 yet in the hands of a savage it adds greatly to his power and may be used by him to oppress another of his tribe4 ,a ruffian with his gun meeting a defenseless man may so command him1 that he is ready for the most abject obedience4 ,an armed highwayman may compel a brave man to stand and deliver4 ,so a man may use his property to secure the service of another but it gives him no right to that service4 ,the usurer1 who has himself no rights against his fellows1 uses a thing1 his property1 as an instrument or weapon to command service4 ,he may place his hand upon every material thing another must have1 and withhold it1 and the other is shut up and compelled1 he has no alternative4 ,he must yield to the demands or suffer4 ,many men are driven to the last extremity before they will borrow4 ,but if the borrower is very willing and urgent for the loan1 this does not change the nature of the act4 ,the game may be shot upon the wing as it is endeavoring to escape1 or it may be snared in a trap by a tempting bait4 ,the wild broncho may be captured in chase1 or beguiled into the corral4 ,the voluntary sacrifice of others to the usurer does not make his gains just4 ,the foolish ones are now willing to invest in lottery tickets1 yet that does not make the lottery lawful4 ,slot machines are being put out of the cities1 because so many are ready to part with their nickels4 ,if there were none ensnared by them1 they could stand harmless4 ,the borrower may be greatly elated with the hope of gain1 but the injustice is the same1 whether the services be secured by compelling force1 or by guile1 or by the folly of the victim4 ,if we admit the supremacy of man over the material creation1 all subordinate to him1 and no right to be1 except to serve him1 and also admit the equal rights of all men1 there is no escape from the conclusion that the usurer can have no rightful claims to any portion of the labor of the borrower1 without surrendering to him some portion of his property as compensation for the services received4 ,he must have less property when the service is rendered and the borrower must have more property if the rights of both are regarded4 ,a false impression prevails1 that the lender in some way gives the loan to the borrower2 that the borrower becomes somewhat the owner of the property4 ,the borrower is encouraged in this illusion and it becomes a plausible basis for the claim upon his services4 ,when a loan is made to a bank it is called a deposit and rightly1 for it is only placed in the banker's hands and does not in any part become his4 ,this is true of any amount1 great or small1 whether the deposit draws interest or not4 ,the lender never loses his sense of ownership of the whole amount1 nor does the banker encourage the fiction that he has become part owner4 ,every loan is but a deposit4 ,the ownership of no part passes to the borrower4 ,it is seldom that the loan or deposit is not safer in the keeping of the borrower than in the hands of the owner himself1 when secured by mortgages or personal sureties4 ,the usurer gains the earnings of the borrower but parts with no property4 ,he receives the service but gives nothing4 ,two usurers1 ,a and ,b1 are neighbors4 ,a has a garden he wishes dug4 ,he has an ax but no hoe4 ,b has wood that he wishes cut4 ,he has a hoe but no ax4 ,the laborer appears and wishes to do their work4 ,usurer ,a agrees to lend him his ax to cut ,b's wood on the condition that he shall return it unimpaired and work his garden for its use4 ,he cuts the wood1 but has no hoe to dig ,a's garden for the use of the ax4 ,usurer ,b now lends the laborer his hoe to dig the garden1 but takes the cutting of the wood for the use of the hoe4 ,the confused borrower knows he is defrauded of his work1 though each seems to have a plausible claim upon him4 ,a does not give the hoe to the laborer4 ,he retains the full ownership but deposits it in the workman's hands to be returned unimpaired4 ,b does not give away his ax1 he only places it in the laborer's hands also to be returned unimpaired4 ,the full hoe and full ax is returned and they have taken the services without compensation4 ,the result is just the same as if ,a and ,b had traded tools and ,a had given the laborer a hoe to dig the garden1 the tool and the material with which to work1 and ,b had given him an ax to cut his wood1 the tool and the material with which to work1 without a pretence of a payment for his labor4 ,taking only a part of the borrower's or laborer's services does not relieve it of injustice4 ,the nature of the oppression is the same1 only less heinous and flagrant4 ,he who took a penny belonging to another is a thief as truly as the man who took a pound4 ,petit larceny and grand larceny differ only in the amount stolen4 ,the man who takes three per cent4 of the labor of another wrongfully defrauds as the man who takes fifty per cent4 ,the nature of the wrong is the same2 they only differ in degree4 ,it is a well known fact1 however1 often repeated1 that ninety-five out of every hundred who go into business with borrowed capital1 that is1 who pay interest on their material and tools1 do give the vigor of their lives to the service of usurers and at the end have nothing4 ,the element of time is only a figment that clouds the question of right and deceives the borrower4 ,in order that the labor of another may be appropriated it is necessary to give him time to work4 ,the laborer may dig in ,a's garden a day or all summer and he may chop wood for ,b a day or all winter4 ,the result is the same4 ,it is necessary that the borrower be given time to earn something before it is or can be appropriated4 ,the question is1 how rapidly can he earn1 and how soon can his earnings be collected8 ,long time loans with the frequent payments of the earnings of the victim are the ideal conditions of the usurer4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,a ,,false ,,basal ,,principle4 ,that usury or interest must be held under the restraints of law is recognized in nearly all countries4 ,it is treated as a necessary evil that cannot be abolished1 and therefore must be controlled4 ,bacon said1 ,it is permitted on account of the hardness of men's hearts4 ,the laws differ in the various states4 ,the rate of interest authorized by a particular state is not invariably fixed1 but is changed as the condition of the people seems to demand4 ,that which determines the rate1 of any particular people1 at any particular time1 is the productive ability of the borrower4 ,the rate now in ,england is about three per cent4 ,the conditions being such that the productive power of the borrower is very limited4 ,in the ,united ,states1 where the natural resources are not all occupied1 and the avenues for successful effort more numerous1 the average is seven per cent4 ,in the western states of the ,united ,states the rates are higher than in the eastern1 for the material resources lie so open and undeveloped that the productive power of the borrower is far greater than in the older eastern states4 ,the basal for the rate of interest is the benefit or the advantage of the loan to the borrower4 ,what can the borrower do or make with this capital8 ,how great a benefit can he gain by it8 ,the rate is based on the earnings of the borrower4 ,the transfer from ,r4 ,r4 station to ,r4 ,r4 station across this city is twenty-five cents4 ,that ,i may make my train and meet my appointment1 that prompt and rapid transfer is of greater value to me1 but that does not give the hackman the right to an increased charge4 ,the fare to the distant city is ten dollars1 but to me1 with important business waiting and suffering1 it is worth an hundred4 ,the conductor does not ask me what my profits are to be from this trip4 ,he collects the same fare of all for the same service1 whatever their interests may be in the passage4 ,the letter which is freighted with a proposition that affects my future life is two cents4 ,because of great value to me the postal service is no more than a letter of idle gossip4 ,railroad freight rates are at times arbitrarily fixed on the basis of the benefit to the patron4 ,the rates of freight from a coal mine are sometimes made by a railroad on the basis of the profits of operating the mine4 ,the rates to a quartz mine in the mountains are often so regulated4 ,a contractor1 dependent on a transportation company1 must often share his profits4 ,such rates are regarded as unjust and oppressive and efforts are made to correct the evil by law4 ,a is crossing the city and can without inconvenience carry a note to a party for ,b4 ,that accommodation without sacrifice or inconvenience on the part of ,a is no basis for a charge upon ,b1 though the delivery of the message was of value to ,b1 but if ,a discovers that in delivering that note he can make it a matter of business gain to himself1 that would not justify ,b in claiming a part of the profits ,a secured for himself4 ,while ,a served his own business he also favored ,b4 ,it would be unreasonable and unjust for ,b to forget the favor and make a charge against ,a1 because in the delivery of the note ,a managed to gain a profit4 ,two farmers are without barns4 ,it will require the labor of a number of years to secure the requisite amount of lumber and other material to enable them to erect their barns4 ,one of the farmers undertakes to shelter and protect from decay the lumber of both1 until the requisite amount can be secured4 ,this is a real favor to the other and is accepted readily4 ,he even offers to pay him for the care and liability4 ,but he discovers afterward that his neighbor1 by wise1 careful and skillful piling1 has made from this lumber a shelter for his stock and grain4 ,that he has so managed as to gain for himself a benefit4 ,then1 with the false principle of usury he makes a charge for the keeping of the very thing for which he was willing to pay a price4 ,a gentleman not wanting his coach for a time1 but wishing it to be kept in perfect repair1 and his team fed and exercised1 to be kept sleek and strong1 leaves it in his coachman's care4 ,the coachman agrees to keep from decay1 and to replace should one die1 and at the end of the term1 return the coach in perfect condition1 no mar or wear1 and the team sleek and strong from good care1 feed and daily exercise4 ,but the coachman discovers that in the daily exercise of the team he can carry a party of business men to and from their offices1 and secure for himself a gain4 ,he1 at the end of the term1 returns the carriage and equipage complete as he received it4 ,the owner has had his property perfectly cared for during the term he could not use it4 ,but the owner learning of the benefit to the keeper1 which would not have been possible without his equipage1 demands a portion of the benefit which cost him nothing1 nor in the least diminished his property4 ,a gentleman has a warm1 rich and beautiful robe1 but is about to travel a number of years among the countries of ,cuba1 ,porto ,rico1 and the ,philippines1 where he will not need it1 and afterward visit ,siberia1 where he will need and use it4 ,another undertakes to relieve him of all care of it during these years and deliver it to the ,siberian home ready for his use4 ,he protects it from the moths in summer1 and guards it against all touch or taint1 and delivers it in the perfect condition in which it was received4 ,in justice he deserves a reward from the owner1 and if he received no benefit1 would receive it1 but it is found that he needed it for his comfort by the way1 and that without it he should have perished4 ,then the owner demands a reward for the benefit the carrier received4 ,the owner did no service4 ,he received a positive benefit1 but the porter1 who carried the burden all the way1 must pay interest or rental because he was kept from perishing by it4 ,the surprise or discovery feature is introduced into the above illustrations to emphasize the false basis upon which the rates of interest rest4 ,in the actual practice of usury the lender may have full information as to the use of the loan and its advantages to the borrower4 ,if we eliminate this feature the basis still remains untenable4 ,by no tortion of ethics can ,i demand that he1 who does me a favor1 shall pay me for the privilege4 ,a man has one thousand dollars of money he is not using4 ,he gives it to another to keep or place in a drawer in his vault4 ,to care for this and be responsible for it1 a commission is allowed1 for it is no benefit to the keeper4 ,even an amount is asked for the drawer in the vault1 without responsibility4 ,to care for this a term of years is deserving of a reward4 ,but now keeping the property equally safe1 and returning every dollar when the owner calls for it1 is not satisfactory to the usurer4 ,if this money has in any way proved a benefit to the keeper1 through his wisdom and energy and skill1 he demands an increase4 ,what is this loan worth to you8 is the question of the usurer to the borrower4 ,the basis of legal interest rates is the amount of benefit the borrower gains by the loan4 ,if his opportunities in a state are favorable1 and he may by diligence make a large gain1 the rates are high4 ,if in another state his opportunities are so limited that1 strive as he may1 he can make little gain1 the legal rates will be low4 ,the basis is so absurd that many have urged the repeal of all laws regulating the rates of interest4 ,why should the laws presume to level the rates for a whole state8 ,the possibilities and opportunities of gain are infinitely varied4 ,every borrower knows his own conditions and the amount of advantage the loan is to him and he should be permitted to pay for money whatever he is willing to pay4 ,one writer thus expresses it1 ,no man of ripe years and of sound mind1 acting freely1 and with his eyes open1 ought to be hindered1 with a view to his advantage1 from making such bargains in the way of obtaining money1 as he thinks fit2 nor anybody hindered from supplying him upon any terms he thinks proper to accede to4 ,jeremy ,bentham is often quoted to prove the absurdity of all laws regulating the rates of interest1 and yet all his elaborate arguments are based on this false principle4 ,if usury is wrong only when the borrower can make no profit1 and is right whenever the borrower can make a gain by it1 and the rate of interest is to be measured by that gain1 then all laws are illogical that limit the rate1 and may be classed among those restraining trade4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,the ,,true ,,ethical ,,principle4 ,the true ethical principle that should govern the relation between the owner of property and the person holding that property as a loan1 does not differ from the principle that is recognized as prevailing in all the other relations of life4 ,the party to whom the service is rendered is under obligation4 ,the party served is the one who must pay for the service4 ,the party served must pay in proportion to the amount of service rendered him4 ,if that service is great1 then the payment must be large4 ,if the service is slight1 then the payment is small1 and when there is no service then no payment can be claimed4 ,this principle is recognized in all worthy and upright transactions4 ,it is the service rendered that is rewarded in a court of justice4 ,an employe recovers his wages from his employer for his services rendered4 ,the condition of the employer's business does not enter into the count4 ,it may have been unprofitable or a great success but that cannot affect the claim either way4 ,a physician charges for the services given a patient4 ,the recovery or death of the patient can neither increase nor diminish them4 ,in service we always surrender something of ourselves or of our own1 and each knows the sacrifice or effort he has made2 he cannot know the value of this to the other1 and he need not know4 ,full compensation is due from the party served but no compensation is due when no service is given nor property surrendered4 ,the usurer's whole claim is for the service of his property4 ,but he does not surrender a particle of his wealth4 ,he does not become poorer in making his loan4 ,he holds all his wealth as fully as before1 whether it be a loan of money or grains or tools4 ,there has been no outgo of property for which1 in any other relation1 he could claim a reward or compensation from his fellow4 ,he simply deposits his property with his fellow and takes security for its safe keeping4 ,it must be preserved perfectly and restored fully4 ,when we consider the true principle1 that compensation is due always for services rendered1 the obligation is upon the lender for the care and preservation of his property4 ,the borrower in any and every case gives a real and valuable service in preservation and restoration at the end of the term1 while the lender renders no personal service nor does he part with a particle of his wealth4 ,there is always a service rendered in caring for and preserving the property of another4 ,it may be very great or it may be very small4 ,it may be so great that no one would undertake it though the property should be freely given him4 ,in #ahjj the ,faithful ,steward was wrecked in ,delaware bay near the shore4 ,it had on board a large number of passengers1 emigrants1 who nearly all perished4 ,few lives were saved and all the property was lost4 ,one young man1 of the kin of the writer1 swam ashore through the breakers4 ,before he left the vessel an old man offered him a stocking full of gold if he cared to try and save it4 ,though young and vigorous he would not undertake to try to save it for it4 ,this was an extreme case of risk and danger4 ,in another extreme case the service may be very small1 reduced to the minimum1 for instance1 caring for the gold of another by locking it up in a fire and burglar-proof safe4 ,for this simple service a comparatively small charge is made4 ,but caring for the property of another is always some service that earns a reward great or small4 ,the nature of the service is not changed and the principle still holds when the deposit is made with a person who gives ample pledges for its full return2 the principle still holds when the deposit is made in a farm and secured there by mortgage1 making it safer than in the iron vault4 ,the true ethical principle1 equity between man and man1 requires that the holder of the property of another shall be compensated by the owner of the property for his services in caring for and preserving it4 ,the amount of compensation depends on the difficult or favorable conditions attending its care4 ,these conditions greatly vary1 perhaps in no two cases are exactly alike1 and so there can be no fixed price or rate at which one will receive and care for the property of another4 ,the extreme limit of liberality permitted is that he may care for the property of another for nothing4 ,he is not permitted to pay a price for the privilege4 ,the revealed divine law1 true ethics and equity and duty of self preservation forbid him4 ,perfect preservation of any amount1 large or small1 for any time1 long or short1 whatever the incidental advantages to the borrower1 is the highest compensation a borrower is permitted to give for any loan4 ,the demand for more than this by the owner is to be resisted as unjust and oppressive4 ,an express company receives a package of money for which it receipts and becomes responsible and agrees to deliver to the owner at some distant point4 ,for this service it receives compensation in accordance with the amount of service4 ,if the conditions are dangerous and the distance great the charge is large4 ,if the conditions are very favorable and safe the charges are small4 ,if the amount of service is reduced to the minimum1 in rare cases1 no charge may be made4 ,but that a price should be paid for the privilege of caring for and conveying it1 is inconsistent with the management of an honest business4 ,the purpose would be either to rob the owner of his wealth or to rob the employes of their services4 ,an insurance company undertakes to protect a property for a term of years1 to a distant date4 ,a rate is given for protection from a single element1 as fire4 ,if all destructive agents are included the rate is higher4 ,the rate is higher for a long than a short period4 ,all the business world recognize the value of this service and nearly every kind of property may now be insured4 ,the premium is cheerfully paid by the owner of the property for the service rendered him4 ,it is a real and valuable service to have his property protected1 preserved1 or restored1 so that it cannot be lost before the distant date4 ,it is conceivable that a property might be so indestructible that the risk would be practically nothing and a policy might be issued without a premium1 but that a price should be paid for the privilege of protecting any property is utterly inconsistent with rational insurance4 ,now usury presumes to reverse this ethical order and requires that the insurance company shall pay the owner of the property for the privilege of protecting it4 ,under usury the property given into the care of another1 and called a loan1 must be perfectly protected and preserved by the borrower1 restored if lost1 and returned in full to the owner at the agreed distant date1 and a price paid for the privilege of performing the service4 ,the true ethical principle and equity in the relations between the owner of a property and the one who holds1 protects and preserves it1 require that the owner shall render to the holder a just compensation4 ,this will vary in different conditions1 it may be very small1 it may in rare cases be entirely eliminated2 but they also utterly forbid that the party rendering the service shall pay for the privilege of serving4 ,one may submit to an injustice in order to gain an advantage4 ,he can do better for himself by submitting than by resisting4 ,his employer may be hard and oppressive but this is the best job he can get and he holds on1 but that does not justify the oppressions of the employer up to the breaking point4 ,it may be to the advantage of a borrower to submit to the exactions of usury1 that is1 he may gain more wealth by borrowing upon interest than not1 but that does not relieve usury of its oppression up to the breaking point when it can no longer be endured4 ,there is no better ethical basis for low interest than high interest4 ,low rates of interest are oppressions that may be suffered or endured for a possible gain1 but high rates are intolerable4 ,the principle is the same whatever the rate of interest1 whether it be low or high4 ,they only differ in the degrees of their severity4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,wealth ,,is ,,barren4 ,that wealth can produce wealth is the assumption of ,shylock4 ,shylock--,when ,jacob grazed his ,uncle ,laban's sheep-- ,this ,jacob from our holy ,abraham was ,the third possessor2 ay1 he was the third4 ,antonio--,and what of him8 ,did he take interest8 ,shylock--,no1 not take interest2 not as you would say1 ,directly interest4 ,mark what ,jacob did4 99 99 99 ,antonio--,this was a venture1 sir1 that ,jacob served for2 ,a thing not in his power to bring to pass-- ,but swayed and fashioned by the hand of ,heaven4 ,was this inserted to make interest good8 ,or is your gold and silver1 ewes and rams8 ,shylock--,i can not tell2 ,i make them breed as fast4 --,merchant of ,venice4 ,it is only intelligent energy that can produce wealth4 ,even the natural resources must be subdued and shaped by intelligent energy to be of service to man4 ,trees do not betake themselves into the form of houses4 ,land does not transform itself into farms and gardens4 ,coal does not come to our fires without hands4 ,ore is not iron1 nor is clay pottery4 ,they must be carefully manipulated by the intelligent laborer4 ,nothing man can make has the power of self propagation4 ,all wealth is as barren as silver and gold1 though ,shylock claimed he could make them breed like ewes and rams4 ,life alone is productive1 and the secrets of life man has not touched4 ,a tree or animal grows by the life that is in it1 but the accretions of wealth are from the efforts of intelligent energy outside of itself4 ,wealth is an effect1 a result4 ,the vital energy of a person1 of a willing intelligent being produces wealth1 but it does not follow that it has the qualities of its cause4 ,it has no intelligence1 nor has it self-determining power1 nor is it vital1 nor has it energy1 it has not in itself the force to overcome its inertia1 the energy must be applied4 ,it has no power to increase or grow4 ,a fortune is built1 as a building is built1 brick after brick is added by intelligent hands4 ,all wealth must have the living hands applied to cause it to increase even the smallest amount4 ,there is no such thing as productive capital4 ,it is so called when it is used to gather and appropriate the earnings of others1 but wealth in none of its forms has the quality or power of producing4 ,money1 the most familiar form1 is barren4 ,a bag of dollars stored for ages will not have increased a single coin4 ,no one holds or handles money on the assumption that it will increase in his hands4 ,money is a care1 and the broker who holds or handles it relies for his compensation1 not on the increase of the dollars in his hands1 but on the increase from some producer to whom he lends it4 ,if there is no borrower he takes a direct commission from the amount itself1 as trustee or administrator or custodian4 ,money is readily exchanged for any other property4 ,money has a number of functions but in exchange it is a medium by which the value of articles is conveyed4 ,it takes the place of the bags which conveyed the wheat1 of the crates which contained the potatoes1 of the baskets which carried the peaches1 and the wrapping which held the cotton or the wool4 ,col4 ,irish1 who was chief of the ,bureau of ,engraving and ,printing at ,washington1 when he died1 and under whose administration the present building was erected1 at one time sent to the wife of the writer a ten dollar bill1 wrapped up so that it looked like a picture1 cabinet size2 this was accompanied by a note1 to be opened first4 ,in this note he said he took pleasure in sending her an excellent likeness of our late lamented president1 which he would be pleased to have her accept4 ,if she should prefer it in some other form1 it was a peculiarity of this likeness that it would change instantly at the will of the holder into any form desired2 that this was the peculiarity that troubled him1 as he had been unable to decide what would please her best1 and had finally decided to send it in this form1 and let her change it into any other she might like better4 ,money is a peculiar medium which will hold and carry the value of anything4 ,you pour in your wheat and take it to the merchant1 who empties your wheat and fills it with clothes1 he carries it to the dealer in any article needed and the vessel is instantly emptied and refilled4 ,the values of the products of laborers in the various occupations of life or the products of the various climates are thus readily exchanged by money1 but the gain is not in the money4 ,the art in trade is to study and know the products and needs of the laborers of one class or country1 and the varied products and needs of the producers of another class or local community4 ,the skill in trade is in supplying the needs of one from the products of the other4 ,the profit in trade is the gain from securing for an article a greater portion of the product of those whose needs are supplied1 than was given to those who produced it4 ,the harvester cost the manufacturer twenty days' work4 ,the farmer1 who needs and purchases it1 pays forty days' work for it4 ,the farmer may produce one hundred bushels of wheat with twenty-five days' work1 but the mechanics in the city1 who need it for bread1 may give twice that amount of labor for that quantity of wheat4 ,there is a wide field for skill and profit in trade1 when the products and needs of all classes and all lands are considered4 ,but money does not add to wealth in trade4 ,there is nothing produced by it in trade4 ,it is but the tool by which values are conveyed1 and no more productive than baskets or crates or sacks4 ,intelligent energy produces all the profits that are secured by trading4 ,modern apologists for usury1 knowing that money is unproductive itself1 call it a tool for production1 and as it can be readily transformed into any tool1 they try to avoid the logical conclusion that the taking of interest on money is unjust and oppressive to the producer4 ,but no tool is productive4 ,all tools are but the reaching out of man for the better control and mastery of material things4 ,the tool is but dead matter2 the productive efficiency is in the vital energy of the intelligent laborer4 ,the most complicated and ingenious tool ever made is useless without the operator4 ,it is as helpless as the wire without the electric current2 as helpless as the body without its life1 for the body is but man's tool1 preserved1 and kept efficient1 and made productive1 by the living energy alone4 ,tools are but the reaching out of the vital energy beyond the body4 ,tools are but the means1 invented and constructed1 by which the man can overcome his physical limitations and accomplish wonders1 the impossible to a creature wanting in his intelligence4 ,these glasses enable dim eyes to see clearly4 ,there is no ability in the glasses to see2 they would be of no use on blind eyes4 ,i see1 these spectacles cannot see4 ,enlarge and so place these lenses that ,i can see bacteria1 or the mountains of the moon1 yet this microscope or this telescope has no more life nor sight than this single lens4 ,i1 with it1 see the minute creation or examine the distant planet4 ,it is but the extension of my eye4 ,this pen and paper and this book are but the means by which ,i reach and reason with my fellow-men4 ,they are but my tools to convey my thought4 ,i am reasoning with you1 not this paper and ink4 ,my hand is the natural tool with which ,i labor4 ,i may work in the garden and plant the seed and destroy the weeds with my hand alone1 and there is no dispute but that ,i do the work4 ,i take a small weeder in my hand and greatly increase my efficiency4 ,i take a hoe and reach out further and greatly add to my efficiency4 ,i am the efficient agent4 ,there is no power in the weeder or the hoe4 ,i take my plow1 as my tool1 and ,i tear up the soil and prepare it for my harvest4 ,i take the complicated harvester and gather it into my barn4 ,in every part of that process the tool is but the reaching out of my energy beyond my body4 ,there is no place where that tool becomes vitalized and productive4 ,i am a porter1 ,i carry packages in my hands4 ,to increase my efficiency ,i build me a cart1 and smooth a roadway1 by which ,i am able to carry more and heavier packages with ease4 ,i construct a roadway across the continent1 and with the power which ,i employ ,i carry the commerce of the nation4 ,i build ships and direct them from continent to continent and handle the commerce of the world4 ,now there is no place from this simple carriage in the hand1 to the complicated and stupendous system of transportation1 where the tool is not wholly dependent on the vital intelligent energy4 ,when the vital principle leaves this body1 then hands1 eyes and the whole body is helpless4 ,withdraw the vital energy from these means by which man extends his power beyond the body1 and all the implements of agriculture will not produce a harvest1 and the wheels of commerce on land and sea would instantly stop4 ,there is no place in the most complicated machine where it begins to produce4 ,the machine may show the greatest ingenuity in its invention and the perfection of skill in its construction1 and the intelligence necessary to its operation may be reduced to the minimum1 yet no where and at no time can it produce of itself4 ,when a criminal is arraigned in court the responsibility is placed upon the person1 the intelligent energy1 always4 ,it matters not by what tools the burglary or other criminal act was committed4 ,the man who handled the tools is held accountable for the results4 ,his tools may show the greatest ingenuity and the highest skill in their construction but they do not share his guilt4 ,he is the efficient and responsible cause4 ,if this were not so justice could be so perverted that the preservation of the order and the security of society would be impossible4 ,every tool is itself produced1 and its maker must be rewarded or paid once1 but there the claim for the tool ends4 ,the laborer who constructs the machine cannot demand repayment over and over4 ,the skilled mechanic who produced this pair of lenses must be paid1 but he has no claim for second payment4 ,to secure repayment he must make another pair4 ,the maker of this pen and this paper must be paid1 but that ends his claim4 ,the maker of the hoe or cart or engine must have the reward he has earned1 but can prefer no second claim4 ,there is no question when the laborer makes and owns his own tool4 ,the labor of constructing the tool must be rewarded as well as the laborer in its operation4 ,when the tools are complicated and require the skill of many1 the makers of the machine are usually different persons from the laborers who operate it4 ,in this case the payment of all must come from the finished product4 ,those who constructed the machine and those who operate it must be paid by the consumers4 ,if the shoe plant is built and operated1 then from the shoes produced must come the payment for all4 ,the workmen who built the plant and the engines and machinery for the manufacture of the different parts of the shoe1 must be paid by the consumer of shoes4 ,the workmen who built the plant must be as fully compensated as those who operate it1 but being compensated1 they have no claim for recompensation for the same work4 ,to be paid again they must build a new plant4 ,the operators must be compensated for every shoe they make1 but they can not reclaim payment over and over again4 ,to receive more pay they must make more shoes4 ,both classes of laborers have a right to full compensation for all the labor performed4 ,neither party has a right to demand a second payment for the same labor4 ,it would be manifestly as unjust for the constructors of the plant to compel the operators to pay them over and over again1 as it would be for the operators of the machine1 having supplied the community with shoes1 to demand payment over and over without making another shoe4 ,the shoes will wear out1 so will the machines4 ,it is as unreasonable for the first class of laborers to compel the operators of their machinery to keep the same in repair1 as for the operators to compel their customers to keep their shoes in perfect condition4 ,for the first laborers to receive a new payment they must build a new plant1 and for the operators to receive a new payment they must make new shoes4 ,the confusion of ideas comes in when there intervenes a third party between these two classes of laborers4 ,this third party meets the demands of the class of laborers who build the plant and machines1 from hoarded wealth1 and then exacts payment from those who operate it4 ,this is then called productive capital1 but it is no more productive than the money in the bank vault4 ,the producing1 so called1 is but the exacting of a part of that which the operators produce4 ,it is the exacting of payment that never pays4 ,the operators are compelled to be forever buying1 yet the plant is never bought4 ,the capitalist is forever selling1 yet the plant is never sold4 ,usually1 the usurer is a fourth party that stands yet behind the third party1 taking no risks1 demanding complete security for his loan and also an increase out of the products of the operators4 ,the third party assumes all care and guarantees against all losses and depends for his compensation on a portion of the product after the demands of the fourth party are satisfied4 ,this third party may be an active producer4 ,all that he receives may be fully earned in care1 oversight and management of the business of the plant4 ,but the fourth party can have no claim for his services1 he has no part in the production4 ,the absurdity1 the figment that his capital is productive1 is introduced to cover the evident fraud of appropriating1 without compensation1 a portion of the products of the operators4 ,he has no more claim to an increase of his capital year by year and a doubling in a term of years1 than the laborers who built it have to the same plant1 perfect and unworn at the end of a term1 and in addition1 another plant equal in every respect4 ,they built but one1 they have no claim upon a second4 ,for the usurer1 who takes their place1 to double his wealth1 and yet the debt be undischarged1 is a flagrant fraud4 ,the underlying falsehood is that wealth changes its nature when put in the hands of a live man and becomes productive4 ,it is acknowledged that wealth lying in the vault is barren and at the same time it is claimed that it produces in the hands of an intelligent agent4 ,but it is the same dead1 helpless1 barren thing wherever it may be found and whatever form it may be made to take4 ,the dollar taken from the vault and exchanged for a hoe does not receive this new quality4 ,the hoe is as dead as the dollar4 ,when this hoe is in the hands of the workman it is the same barren thing is was before he picked it up4 ,these glasses are precisely the same when astride my nose as when lying on the table4 ,it is not true that wealth in any form1 though it be that of a useful tool1 takes on this new quality or attribute when in the hands of a live man4 ,a man's labor is more productive with suitable tools than without them4 ,the same energy will secure far greater returns4 ,if it were not so he would not trouble to make tools or use them4 ,but to call tools productive agents and so reward them is to rob intelligent energy1 skill and inventive genius of that which they alone can produce4 ,this degrades the man to the level of the tool or exalts the tool to the height of its maker4 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,wealth ,,decays4 ,all man-made wealth is subject to inevitable decay4 ,aristotle said1 ,labor produces all wealth1 but the product has no sooner left the laborer's hands than it begins to perish4 ,the vital energy that produced it must follow to preserve it from the ravages of time4 ,take the life1 the vital part1 from the body1 and corruption begins4 ,so with all that has been produced1 withdraw the vital force and ruin immediately follows4 ,the vital energy must ever be present and active to preserve it4 ,fruits and grains and provisions of all kinds for human food rapidly perish4 ,the laborer must be continually active1 producing and preserving1 or the race would be starving in a fortnight4 ,even the miraculously bestowed manna became corrupt in a night4 ,it had to be gathered day by day4 ,flocks and herds need the shepherd's care4 ,they are subject to disease and natural enemies and are short lived1 so that however large and strong1 and healthy the herd of cattle1 or the flock of sheep1 it would be soon scattered and lost to the owner without watchful care4 ,tools and instruments of production1 great or small1 if used1 soon need to be renewed1 or if unused perish even sooner4 ,neglected they speedily decay4 ,the locomotive left unattended on the track would soon be utterly useless from the destructive elements of rain and heat1 frosts and sunshine4 ,the palace1 that floats on the ocean1 would be a prey to barnacles1 to winds and waves1 to shoals and rocks1 and would soon disappear1 without the constant hand of intelligent vital energy to direct and preserve it4 ,houses untenanted and uncared for soon decay4 ,leaks unstopped1 broken windows unrepaired1 and vermin unrestrained1 soon make them unfit for habitation4 ,farms and plantations go back speedily to weeds and wilderness when uncultivated4 ,great cities like ,babylon and ,nineveh are soon so covered with dust that we have to dig to find their ruins4 ,decay is written over every form of man-made wealth4 ,there is needed constantly the touch of the laborer for its preservation4 ,gold1 silver and precious stones are the least subject to decay4 ,they are not1 however1 made1 but found1 and simply refined and polished4 ,the indestructibility of silver and gold have made them the money metals of the world1 quite as much as their rarity1 their beauty and malleability4 ,in them wealth could be stored and moth and rust would not corrupt4 ,but even gold and silver will disappear4 ,the thief will break through and steal4 ,they must be1 therefore1 carefully guarded4 ,the tax or levy of the government for its part in the protection must be met1 so that even gold and silver must also gradually slip away4 ,decay is upon all wealth and the hand of the laborer must be ever present for its preservation4 ,this law is universal4 ,even the ,divine ,creator must continue to uphold his creation4 ,his sustaining hand cannot be withdrawn4 ,he must preserve by his power and ever guide and direct1 or disorder and chaos will ensue4 ,usury or interest presumes to ignore this order of nature and demands not only that the borrower shall resist this tendency of capital to decay1 but shall also pay a price for the privilege4 ,that any one should undertake to care for and preserve the property of another without compensation is unreasonable1 but that any one should voluntarily pay a premium for the privilege can only be explained by misguided judgment or a perverted moral sense4 ,no one would be responsible for1 and care for and pay tax upon the money of another and himself get from it no return4 ,trustees and administrators receive1 and feel they earn1 a commission for this caring for the property of others4 ,when this wealth is in the form of a tool1 or manufacturing plant1 the responsibility is greater4 ,the owner asks that it be preserved perfectly4 ,there must be no decline in value1 from new improved machinery1 and all accidents must be made good2 if destroyed by fire1 it must be rebuilt4 ,to take this for a year or term of years1 is a responsibility no one would feel justified in assuming in justice to himself4 ,he would be using his own vital force to preserve the perishable property of another4 ,a man has a farm1 fertile and well improved1 and well stocked4 ,he is to be absent for a time4 ,he asks as a favor that another watch it with care1 preserve the stock in condition1 if any die1 replace them1 and in short1 so preserve that he shall have the farm at his return1 just as fertile1 the stock just as young and valuable1 the implements unworn and no signs of decay on the buildings2 if any burn1 rebuild them4 ,this would be a favor only the kindest and weakest of neighbors or friends would undertake1 and what no man would be justified in asking of another4 ,this is loaning without interest and this is the borrower1 who pays only the principal and no increase4 ,the usurer says1 ,care for my property and pay me for the opportunity4 ,keep it intact4 ,make good every loss and return to me an increase which you by your energy and effort may produce4 ,the rates of interest greatly vary4 ,the average in the ,united ,states is about seven per cent41 by statistics of the government only recently issued4 ,at seven per cent41 interest paid annually or added to debt for ten years1 the debt is doubled4 ,the usurer or interest taker says1 ,you take this hundred dollars and care for it for me for ten years and then bring me two hundred dollars4 ,take this wheat and this corn and in ten years bring me back just twice the amount4 ,take these horses and these sheep and cattle and care for them for ten years and return them just as good as they are now1 and other horses1 cattle and sheep in equal number1 which you have produced in these ten years4 ,take this shop with all its tools and implements and care for it so that in ten years you can return it to me in as perfect order as now1 and also build me with your labor and energy another shop1 just like it1 and equip it in every way just as complete as this1 and on my return give both to me4 ,take this farm1 fertile as it is1 with its buildings and animals and implements1 and preserve them perfectly1 not a thing shall decay or decline in value2 make good every loss1 and at the end of ten years return it to me and also another farm which you have earned during these ten years1 of equal acreage and fertility1 equally improved with live stock and implements4 ,the usurer gains the preservation of his own perishable property1 and he gains also the product of the vital force of his victim4 ,this law of decay is a natural limitation to the accumulation of any producer4 ,as decay begins at once1 a part of the vital energy must be expended in the preservation of that already produced4 ,as the accumulations increase1 more energy is required for its preservation1 and less remains for active production4 ,time does not relax his work of ruin1 and the resisting energy must be constant4 ,the tendency to decay is such that soon the energy required to preserve that already gained leaves none to produce1 and the accumulations must cease4 ,to this point the rich fool in the parable had come4 ,he had abundance accumulated and the problem was to preserve it1 until he could consume it4 ,this will ,i do1 ,i will pull down my barns1 and build greater2 and there will ,i bestow all my fruits and my goods4 ,and ,i will say to my soul1 ,soul1 thou hast much goods laid up for many years2 take thine ease1 eat1 drink1 and be merry4 ,the usurer hands his goods to another to build the barns and keep for him1 while he is free from its care2 and1 more1 he requires of his victim not only that he shall preserve1 resisting all decay1 but that he shall actually pay him for the privilege4 ,had the rich fool not lived in his day1 when usury was a crime1 but in this age of folly1 he would have apportioned his goods among his foolisher neighbors upon interest1 to keep for him1 and then not only he1 for many years1 but his posterity forever1 could be at ease1 eating1 drinking1 and making merry4 ,the silly borrowers would supply all the needs of his endowed family1 for the privilege of caring for the goods4 ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,debt ,,habit4 ,the debt habit of mind is the disposition or tendency to look to things we have not as necessary to our success3 ,to yearn for other opportunities and other means than those we have in our hands3 ,to feel helpless without them and willing to incur debt to secure them4 ,the independent1 self-reliant disposition takes account of its own powers and opportunities and means1 and plans with these to accomplish the very most4 ,this old self-reliant1 independent spirit1 that scorned debt1 has largely passed away4 ,to incur debt is now the common habit and has become respectable4 ,all evil-doers encourage and stimulate the particular fashion or habit or appetite or passion on which they thrive4 ,usury thrives on debt4 ,if no one was in debt then usurers would be harmless4 ,it is this debt habit that gives them the large field for their operations and secures to them their harvest4 ,the agreement to pay interest preserves for a time the feeling of independence that would be wounded by receiving a loan as a favor4 ,there is usually a feeling of joy and elation in the borrower that confidence in him is so great1 and his credit is so high1 that he can be entrusted with a loan4 ,by incurring a debt there seems to promise the opening up of opportunities that have been denied1 and a possible field for the successful exertion of his pent up energies4 ,the present intended use of the loan1 too1 seems so attractive and profitable1 and the buoyant1 hopeful spirit does not doubt that the loan can be easily and promptly repaid4 ,the temptations to debt do not come to the vicious and idle and worthless1 but to the most worthy1 industrious1 talented1 reliable and enterprising1 those who will be the most productive in their fields of effort4 ,its very approach is flattering and therefore so hard to resist4 ,a bright1 intelligent1 noble young man with high aims and worthy purposes yearns for an education1 but the opportunities seem to be denied him2 but there is a fund at low interest at his service4 ,a lively1 energetic young man1 with industrious and economical habits1 is anxious to engage in business2 his youth1 character and energy bring the loan to his feet4 ,the young man with pure yearning for domestic life and a home1 with a reputation that is above reproach and of commendable energy and thrift1 has a home pressed upon him1 to be paid for in long-time payments4 ,he can fill it with furniture on the installment plan4 ,with intellectual taste1 he can fill his library with just the books he desires on the installment plan4 ,is he musical in his taste1 he can fill his parlor with musical instruments on the installment plan4 ,his needs and tastes can all be gratified at once by incurring debt4 ,to avoid debt there must be a determined and unremitted effort to resist4 ,few have been able to escape4 ,the aggregate of private indebtedness can not be told4 ,few manufacturing plants are free from debt4 ,they are usually carrying all the load their credit enables them to secure4 ,railroads and other corporations are under bonded debts that tax their trade to the utmost to sustain4 ,counties and municipalities have caught the contagious habit4 ,bonds are issued to build school houses1 town halls1 viaducts1 water-works1 and pave streets4 ,there lies on this table a list of all the cities in this great land1 the ,united ,states1 with their number of inhabitants and their bonded debts4 ,there are but six small cities in the long list without debt4 ,in some the amount is enormous1 the city debt in cases running up to one hundred and one hundred and fifty1 and two hundred dollars per inhabitant4 ,that is1 there is a city debt on each man1 woman and child of two hundred dollars4 ,on this amount interest must be paid1 twelve dollars per year1 one dollar per month for every man1 woman and child4 ,there lies also on the table a report of the financial condition of the nearest great city4 ,it is rendered in a cheerful mood and declares the city's credit tip top4 ,the indebtedness is eight millions1 but the assessed valuation of the city is so high that two million more bonds can be issued before the limit of indebtedness is reached as established by the general law4 ,this is regarded as a most favorable showing and the assurance is given that all the contemplated public improvements can be pushed without interruption4 ,there is no thought of stopping until the extreme limit is reached4 ,this habit extends to the churches and benevolent enterprises4 ,there is scarcely a church that is not paying interest on some debt4 ,local societies are often greatly hindered in their work4 ,a benevolent agency of one of the largest and richest denominations issued a piteous appeal to their constituents for help1 declaring that the interest on their debts amounted to one thousand dollars per week4 ,the debt habit has seized the nations and the most enlightened4 ,this is so true that debts are1 in pleasantry1 spoken of as a sign of a nation's progress4 ,these aggregate billions are rapidly increasing4 ,the ,chancellor of the ,exchequer says the debt of ,england was reduced five hundred millions in twenty years4 ,to the astonishment of all the world1 the ,united ,states began to pay her debt1 eighteen hundred million1 in thirty years4 ,but these stand alone among the nations4 ,the national debts do not grow less1 but are rapidly increasing4 ,both the ,united ,states and ,england are now increasing their indebtedness each year4 ,the world has gone debt mad4 ,it has become a great harvest field1 ripe for the usurers4 ,debts may at times be unavoidable4 ,they may at times be positively beneficial4 ,there may be times when the system is in such a condition that it is necessary to take arsenic in small doses1 but arsenic has no place in the menu of a healthy man4 ,so debts may be necessary to those who have fallen into decay or have been unfortunate1 but they should find no place in the normally healthy financial conditions of an individual or incorporation or nation4 ,debts make no man the richer4 ,a man is no richer when he has secured a loan1 than he was before4 ,paying debts makes no man poorer4 ,he but relieves himself of the property of another4 ,paying a national debt destroys no wealth4 ,if owed at home1 it is but a transfer from one hand or pocket to another4 ,adjusting the world's debts1 private1 corporate1 municipal1 or national1 the world would remain as rich and productive4 ,not a material thing would perish4 ,no man would suffer the loss of any right or of any property1 but it would be the destruction of the device by which the usurers appropriate to themselves the productions of others4 ,freed from this debt habit of mind1 and the independent1 self-reliant disposition replaced1 this anomalous condition would disappear2 the producer would receive again his full earnings and the great army of parasites1 that has grown up1 and that feed so richly on the labors of others1 would be compelled to turn producers or perish4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,the ,,borrower ,,is ,,servant ,,to ,,the ,,lender4 ,solomon's declaration that1 ,the borrower is servant to the lender1 was spoken without reference to usury4 ,loaning upon increase was not lawful in his day1 and was condemned by him in his proverb1 ,he that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance1 he shall gather it for him that will have pity on the poor4 ,a loan binds the borrower to the lender though he pay no increase4 ,there comes a sense of subserviency and subordination that can not be thrown off4 ,he becomes steward of another's goods1 and frees the owner of their care1 but they remain subject to the owner's order4 ,the preservation of goods hinder any great accumulation by any single producer1 but if he can be freed from its care1 then all his energies can be used to continue production4 ,many find it as hard to keep property as it is to earn it4 ,the hunter or fisherman takes with him his lackey to carry his game4 ,if game is plentiful and the hunter successful1 he would1 otherwise1 soon be compelled to discontinue his hunt from the burden of fish and game4 ,but1 freed from that care and burden1 he can continue his hunt indefinitely4 ,so1 the borrower1 even when he pays no interest1 as a lackey1 without wages1 cares for the earnings of the lender1 leaving him free to continue his earning unhindered4 ,a valet cares for the clothes of his master until he calls for them4 ,the borrower1 without interest1 as a valet1 without pay1 cares for the goods of the lender until he needs them4 ,the independent spirit of the borrower is not immediately lost4 ,the servile spirit and conscious sense of bondage may not be felt at once4 ,likely the first sensation on receiving a loan is an elation bordering on ecstasy4 ,the poor man who is offered a loan is usually greatly delighted4 ,there is hope of relief from the limitations and restraints that have been as a wall round about him4 ,the loan seems to throw down these walls and give him an opportunity to secure greater results and achieve success4 ,but the delight is transient and the sense of greater liberty is brief4 ,the prison walls are down1 but the debt holds him like a ball and chain4 ,he has only exchanged one restraint for another worse2 he has leaped from the pan into the fire4 ,the spirit loses its hopefulness and independence and becomes servile and cringing4 ,milton represents our first parents1 after their first sin1 as intoxicated in delight1 but the consciousness of their degradation and shame soon followed4 ,so the first sensation from a loan is of relief and hope2 the future looks bright1 but the sense of subjection to the lender is sure to follow4 ,he forfeits the free1 independent1 self-reliant spirit that scorns dependence upon any man4 ,he only looks the whole world in the face1 who owes no man a cent4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,,usury ,,enslaves ,,the ,,borrower4 ,timon of ,athens said1 ,no usurer1 but has a fool for a slave4 ,the borrower without usury loses his free and independent spirit and becomes cringing and servile1 but when interest is paid it increases the severity of the servile service4 ,the lackey must not only care for the game taken1 but he must add to the bag from his own hunting4 ,he not only cares for the fish his master caught but must add to the basket from his own catching4 ,the valet must not only perfectly preserve the clothes of his master1 but must add to his wardrobe4 ,the borrower of the usurer must protect and preserve every farthing in value of the property or goods1 and must also increase the amount4 ,the estimate put upon the mental condition of the person who will submit to such an imposition1 by ,timon of ,athens1 must be admitted as fairly just1 for a heathen4 ,from the almost universal practice of usury1 and the vast numbers enslaved1 we must also admit that ,solomon1 the wisest man that ever lived1 knew what he was saying1 when he slyly called us all fools in his proverb1 ,a wise man's heart is at his right hand but a fool's heart is at his left4 ,the object of the usurer in making a loan is to secure the service of the borrower2 it may be called a favor1 an opportunity1 an accommodation1 but that is its purpose and its effect4 ,it may be called capital or a tool for production1 but the appropriation of the service of the borrower is the result sought and secured4 ,to secure the service of a horse1 there must be an outgo of wealth in its purchase price and in its harness and the vehicle4 ,the service received is the return1 the compensation for the payment made4 ,that is money invested and repaid in service4 ,the price was in accordance with the service the animal would be able to render4 ,for more and better service a higher price must be paid4 ,there must be an expenditure to secure the service of a chattel slave4 ,the purchase price must be paid and the tools and material or plantation must be supplied before his services are available4 ,the price paid is in accordance with a reasonable estimate of the service the slave will be able to render during life4 ,the outlay is made in consideration of an equivalent in service4 ,a loan is made for the same purpose and secures the same result4 ,the price of the horse or slave must be paid before the service can be claimed4 ,the loan must be made before there can be a pretext of a claim upon the services of the borrower4 ,there is this difference1 however1 that the purchaser pays for the services he expects to receive2 he makes a real outlay for what is to be given him4 ,the usurer pays nothing1 he does not give a farthing2 he makes no outlay2 he merely changes the deposit from the bank vault1 or his strong box1 to his victim1 and requires from him such an ample security that it is as safe in his hands as remaining in the vault4 ,that he has bought the service of the borrower as another bought the service of the horse or chattel slave is untrue4 ,he has given no equivalent4 ,he retains every farthing of his wealth safely deposited with his victim4 ,the service he receives does not diminish the value of his property nor discharge any portion of his claim4 ,the usurer1 like all those who appropriate the labors of their slaves1 claims that he is a real benefit to his borrower4 ,he has given him an opportunity of advancement that he could not otherwise have had4 ,he points to him possibly with some degree of pride1 especially if he seems greatly prospered4 ,the owner of colored slaves pointed to his well-fed and well-clothed and happy people1 merry in their cabins1 and made a claim that was equally plausible2 that these people are far better off and far happier than they could be in freedom4 ,their well-kept1 happy1 care-free condition did not make them freemen4 ,they were slaves1 though they may have been happy4 ,they were slaves1 though they preferred bondage to being their own masters4 ,the usurer's prosperous victim is not therefore a freeman4 ,though he should prefer debt to independence1 that does not make him free4 ,no one prefers to be in debt4 ,debts are chosen as the least of the evils4 ,the natural resources are occupied and the opportunities of life are denied4 ,lands and all tools of production are withheld and the horns of the dilemma are debt or privation4 ,the independent spirit shrinks from debt until the struggle of life becomes desperate1 when he turns to the other evil and is enslaved4 ,this is not a temptation that comes to the idle and vicious4 ,they could not secure a loan though they tried4 ,an indolent1 dissipated and vicious chattel slave would not find a purchaser in the market4 ,it is the industrious1 virtuous and economical young man that is of value to the usurer1 and the better his character1 the greater his worth4 ,for this reason their virtues are cried up to the usurers1 as the favorable qualities of the chattel were presented in the slave marts4 ,to secure a loan is an evidence of confidence in his business ability1 and an evidence of the appreciation of his character4 ,it is a flattering compliment1 and promising relief to a condition that seems hopeless1 he permits the yoke of bondage to be fastened upon him4 ,the usurer's slave is cheaper than the chattel4 ,it requires less wealth to secure an equal amount of service4 ,a loan of five thousand dollars at the prevailing rate of seven per cent4 will bring to the usurer more than one dollar1 clear gain1 for every working day4 ,that is as much as any one man1 not professional or specially skilled1 can hope to produce with that amount of capital1 after caring for himself and his home4 ,the borrower secures the lender from all loss1 he largely relieves him from oversight1 he directs his own labors1 supports himself wholly2 if sick1 he supplies a substitute that the service does not stop1 and when from the infirmities of age he is no longer able to give the required amount of service1 one dollar per day1 he returns the loan in full1 which may be bound upon another victim1 and thus continued forever4 ,in the days of chattel slavery labor was not so cheap4 ,the price of a strong1 faithful young colored slave1 and the value of the tools for him to use1 and the proportionate part of the plantation necessary for him to work1 was about equal to the above loan4 ,then he must be clothed and fed2 his work must be directed2 if sick his labor was lost1 and he must receive medical and other care2 all risks of harvest from drouth or flood must be incurred by the owner1 and the slave's term of service was limited by his death1 when his purchase cost was lost1 and there must be an outlay by a new purchase4 ,one chattel slave could not bring his master such enormous returns4 ,not only does financial slavery exact more labor for the amount invested1 but it is more heartless than chattel bondage4 ,the master had a personal interest in the slave he bought4 ,his health and strength was an object of his care and his death a great loss4 ,there was also often a mutual affection developed1 as is sometimes found between a man and his horse or affectionate dog4 ,there was sometimes real unfeigned mutual love4 ,the master had a tender care over his slaves in their sicknesses and in their decrepit age1 and sorrowed at their graves4 ,the slaves were inconsolable in their grief at the death of their master4 ,the usurer has no personal interest in his slave4 ,he has no care for his health or his life2 they are of no interest to him4 ,he may live in a distant state and has no anxiety about those who serve him4 ,their personal ills give him no concern4 ,when they die1 there is no loss nor any additional outlay required2 the bonds are simply transferred to others1 and the service is not interrupted4 ,many faithful1 industrial and honest borrowers are unable to return the loan4 ,it is as difficult to retain property as it is to earn it4 ,new inventions1 new processes1 new methods1 new legislation and the changing fashions and customs1 often sweep property from the shrewd and careful4 ,riches make themselves wings2 they fly away4 ,if for any cause the borrower fails there is scant sympathy from the usurer4 ,he charges him with being deficient in business management and thriftless4 ,if the yoke of bondage galls and becomes so painful that in his distress the debtor turns from the struggle in one direction to struggle in another in hope of relief1 he calls him fickle2 and if at last1 after a long and hard service1 he is unable to return the loan in full1 he calls him dishonest4 ,his ear is deaf to the voice1 ,is not this the fast that ,i have chosen8 to loose the bands of wickedness1 to undo the heavy burdens1 and to let the oppressed go free4 ,there are those in debt yet struggling against hope to be free4 ,they are slaving at work1 but making no progress toward relief4 ,the crisis must come4 ,in the race with biting usury that knows no rest1 night nor day1 year in and year out1 that knows no sickness nor delay1 that keeps step with time1 there is but one possible result4 ,there can be but one final result1 though the debtor may have a start far in advance1 but if in the race it has become neck and neck1 the end is near4 ,usury will sweep on with full wind1 and unslacking pace1 when the debtor falls exhausted4 ,there is comfort1 however1 though the race be lost1 for the distress of poverty is less than the agony of hopeless debt4 ,the old and ruined1 who have lived honorable and industrious lives1 who have endeavored to do their part in all the relations of life1 yet have been in the slavery of debt all their days1 and when their powers began to fail were stripped of the earnings of years1 and besides1 are compelled to bear the name of dishonorable debtors1 are the most worthy of sympathy of any the world knows4 ,the decrepit old chattel slave had hope of a home until the end1 and a decent burial1 but the debtor has nothing1 not even an honorable name4 ,the young1 who are yet free from personal debt1 should be warned1 and should not permit themselves to be beguiled by any of the allurements held out1 nor by flatteries4 ,as one prizes his independent spirit and freedom from the dictation of others1 as he desires a successful life and a peaceful old age1 he should avoid debt4 ,as a ,christian1 who desires unrestrained ,christian fellowship1 whose benevolence will be from the kindness and love of his own heart1 as one who wishes to bless all he meets1 and to leave a name associated only with hallowed memories1 he should avoid debt4 ,owe no man anything1 but love one another4 ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,usury ,,oppresses ,,the ,,poor4 ,moses1 ,solomon and the prophets connect usury with the oppression of the poor4 ,for this reason many have thought the divine prohibition of usury applied only to loans to the poor4 ,by careful attention we will find that its evils are not confined to the immediate participants in the transaction4 ,in the natural operation of economic laws the ultimate burden rests upon the poor4 ,it is clear that when each member of a community contributes his portion to the common welfare the burdens are equally distributed4 ,when any one fails to contribute his proportion the burdens are made heavier for the other members1 and the burdens increase as the number increases of those who for any cause fail to contribute their part4 ,this is true in the family home life4 ,when every member of the household is able1 and with cheerful willingness does his full part for the family support and comfort1 the burden is equally distributed4 ,let one member of the family be in any way disabled and his duties must be performed by others4 ,if several are disabled the burdens upon the others may be greatly increased4 ,if any are indolent the burdens are made heavy upon those who are industrious4 ,the same is true in the larger family1 the community and the state1 for political economy is but enlarged home economy4 ,the burdens are lightest when every one contributes his full share to the general welfare4 ,when any are idle the duties become heavier upon those who are faithful4 ,usury makes it possible for many to live upon incomes from their property4 ,they are not classed1 nor do they class themselves1 among those who are personally productive4 ,this makes it necessary for the poor1 those who have no property1 to produce more in order to house and clothe and feed the community4 ,but those non-productive persons are consumers and are the most active consumers4 ,they make heavy drafts upon the energies of others4 ,they become extravagant in their habits and the spendthrifts of the world2 while in proportion to their extravagant habits there must be severity and simplicity in the habits of the industrious and productive1 on whom the support of the community rests4 ,the world does not grow richer nor are the conditions of life for one class eased by the extravagance of another class4 ,it is sometimes said that the idleness and the wasteful habits of some are for the benefit of others because they make a demand for more work4 ,it would give the lumberman and nail-cutter and carpenter and glazier and plasterer and painter more work to call back the fire department and let the house burn1 but that is not the way to house the houseless4 ,extravagance is wasteful destruction of property4 ,it is insisted upon both moral and economic grounds that no public benefit of any kind arises from the existence of a rich idle class4 ,their incomes must be paid1 though inconsistent with the public good4 ,to illustrate1 the ,london and ,southwestern railroad contemplated a reduction of fares in cars of the third-class4 ,it was defeated because it might reduce the dividends4 ,the poor could not be relieved lest it should reduce the incomes of the idle4--,ruskin4 ,that family is happy and prosperous in which every member contributes personally his portion to its support and comfort4 ,that condition affords the highest measure of relief for all4 ,it is unfortunate if there should be an idler in the home who1 as a parasite1 feeds on the industry of the others2 it is a double misfortune if that idler proves a spendthrift to waste the thrifty gatherings of the diligent4 ,the same economic principles make it necessary for the highest good of every individual in the community that each shall contribute his personal part4 ,if any will not work neither shall he eat4 ,if any insist upon eating and yet will not work1 it imposes an oppressive burden on others to compel them to supply his table4 ,again3 ,the limiting of production is a hardness to the poor4 ,their welfare requires the largest possible product along every line of human needs4 ,over-production is a term of the trade and means only that the supply has become so great that it cannot be sold at prices satisfactory to the trade4 ,but as the prices fall the market broadens4 ,consumption increases with the increasing abundance1 and that which it was not possible for certain classes to enjoy now comes within their reach and may become possible to even the poorest4 ,there never can be an over-supply of fruits and vegetables and grains and meats and shoes and clothes and salt and oil and fuel and houses until the wants of the poorest are supplied4 ,their welfare requires that there shall be no restraining of the supply until they come out of their huts into houses2 until they can shed their rags and dress in clothes both comfortable and attractive2 until their tables are supplied with nutritious food2 until they have the means of discovering and cultivating their sthetic nature by shaking off the repellant conditions in which they are mostly compelled to live4 ,the practice of usury restrains the supply by freeing so large a part of the people from the necessity of active productive effort by the incomes from their properties4 ,many born to wealth have never felt the necessity1 and have never made an effort nor turned a thought along productive lines4 ,the world has lost all that they might have added to the world's supply for human needs4 ,many1 who have been successful in accumulation early in life1 retire from active work while yet in full vigor1 because they are relieved of the necessity by the income of usury or increase1 and the most valuable portion of their lives is lost to the world4 ,production is further limited by the demand that it shall yield an increase on the property employed4 ,the shop is shut down when the goods cannot be sold at such a price as to pay a satisfactory profit on the investment4 ,the shop stands idle until the stock is depleted and the demand raises the price of the goods and then the shop is again opened4 ,the workmen could go on with their work1 supplying the world with their goods1 bringing the price down until within the reach of the poorest1 but it is the owner of the shop that holds the key and demands that the supply shall be so far restrained that the price shall yield a satisfactory increase on the property4 ,inventions and improved tools are a blessing to the poor when they make labor so productive that they can enjoy results of labor that could not be enjoyed by them before4 ,they are not a blessing when used to gain an increase on wealth by employing less labor4 ,their proper use is to make labor more productive2 their perverted use is to make property more profitable4 ,there is a natural restraint by the law of supply and demand when all needs are so supplied that there is no longer a sufficient compensation to the producer2 but it is a perverted and unrighteous restraint to place property between productive labor and human needs and demand a reward for it before these human needs shall be satisfied4 ,there is an utter want of pity for the poor in permitting them to go unhoused1 unfed and unclothed1 unless there shall be a profit by increase in supplying their wants4 ,true benevolence requires that labor shall be made so effective as to fill every human need1 but pure selfishness uses property to supply the need for a gain4 ,this restraint for an increase on property is oppression of the poor for a price4 ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,usury ,,oppresses ,,the ,,poor--,continued4 ,the influence of any act is not limited to the person acting4 ,the righteous act of a righteous man blesses himself and his generation and generations yet unborn4 ,so the influence of a wrong act is not limited to the wrong-doer1 but extends to others and is harmful to those who had no voluntary part in the act4 ,though the wrong be a personal habit and the sinner be himself the greatest sufferer1 yet it is impossible to avoid causing distress to others who are themselves innocent4 ,equity between those who participate in a wrong does not make a wrong act righteous4 ,thieves may be just among themselves1 in the division of the spoils secured from others1 but that does not make them upright men1 nor does it make their business honest4 ,if it were possible to preserve equity between the borrower and the lender upon usury1 yet that would not justify the act nor remove the evil4 ,the collection of their profits1 which they divide equitably among themselves1 imposes a burden upon others who have no part in the transaction4 ,their satisfactory agreement does not make the transaction less detrimental to the general good4 ,it may the rather partake of the nature of a conspiracy against the public welfare4 ,the promoter of an enterprise on borrowed capital is practically but the agent of the lender4 ,he may be the director and manager but he so conducts his undertaking as to gather the usury from others4 ,when the opportunities for profitable investments become rare1 and money accumulates and is lying idle1 such promoters with their schemes are encouraged in order to gain a profit on the investment1 though others suffer by it4 ,there lies upon this table a booklet1 written in #ahda1 which charges and proves complicity between the bankers and brokers of ,new ,york at that time4 ,the bankers loaned the brokers the money which they reloaned at very high rates4 ,the banks refused accommodations to those in pressing need1 compelling them to go to the brokers and to submit to their extortionate demands4 ,though there may be an equitable arrangement between the owner of property and his broker and between the broker and his promoter1 yet in the last analysis it will be found that this equitable arrangement1 in its ultimate result1 is of the nature of a conspiracy to compel the innocent poor to pay the profits of both2 their consent is not first secured nor do they gain a single advantage and they are helpless to resist4 ,though the transaction may have been between the rich1 a rich lender and a rich borrower1 yet the final result is that the interest is paid by the poor4 ,in ,calvin's letter of apology he supposes a case of equity between a rich land owner who is in need of ready money and the man who has money to buy a farm1 but instead lends to his rich landlord and takes a mortgage4 ,in this case the tenants of the borrower must pay the interest and finally the principal also4 ,this increases the hardness of their hard lot4 ,though ,calvin seems to appreciate the severe conditions of the ordinary tenant in his day1 yet he fails to recognize that the very illustration he gives would result in greater oppression4 ,when one entrusts his money to a broker for investment he does not come in contact with those who earn the interest4 ,it may pass through a number of agents and the source from which the interest is drawn is not regarded4 ,when one entrusts his money to the ,security ,co4 in their great building1 surrounded by all appearances of unlimited wealth1 it is not realized that the interest returned is wrung from the poor4 ,money does not lie in the vaults4 ,it is loaned to others who as agents do collect or gather from the poor4 ,a loan is made to a milling company and the interest is gathered from all who buy their flour4 ,a loan is made to a landlord and he collects the usury from his tenants4 ,a loan is made to a street car company and increase is collected from the employes and from every rider4 ,a loan is made to a merchant and he collects from his customers4 ,it is easy to see who pay the interest when we make a common pawnbroker our agent and see in his dingy rooms the evident distress and needs of his callers4 ,many shrink from his oppressions who are deceived by the splendid surroundings of the ,security ,co4 ,but the interest is exacted from the same class as truly by one as by the other4 ,usury oppresses the poor by raising the price of all that he consumes4 ,without being consulted and without the power of resistance he must pay tribute to property for the very necessities of life4 ,he lives in a rented house4 ,the owner has placed a mortgage on this house and the tenant must pay the interest and more in his rental or be ejected4 ,the bread he must have is from wheat raised on mortgaged land and the interest must be met in the price of wheat4 ,the mill is mortgaged in which it is ground and the interest must be paid in the increased price of flour4 ,the railroad is bonded and the interest on the bonds must be paid in the price of its transportation1 and the merchant has a loan to enable him to do business and the interest on this loan must be met in the increase of the profits on flour and all other goods he handles4 ,by usury a tribute is levied on his bread from the wheat in the field until it reaches his tables4 ,in the same way he pays interest in the price of his meat1 which is raised on a mortgaged farm1 transported over a bonded railroad1 dressed in a mortgaged abattoir and sold by a dealer doing business on borrowed capital4 ,the same is true of his clothes2 a first tribute must be paid to property by the raw cotton or wool1 then the transportation and the factory and the merchant1 in addition to the compensation for their services1 must meet also the interest upon their loans1 and the whole is summed up in the price the poor man must pay4 ,he has no option in the matter2 he has no alternative1 no method by which he can escape4 ,the same is true with regard to his fuel and his light4 ,the same is true with regard to car fares4 ,in every ride he pays an enormous tribute to invested wealth4 ,the writer made a careful estimate of the accounts of a car line in a small city where the number of riders bore small comparison with the crowded cars of any metropolis4 ,when the cost of maintenance of the plant1 including the wear and tear and all repairs1 and the cost of operation1 covering all current expenses1 including taxes1 were compared with the receipts from the patrons of the road1 it was found that less than two cents per passenger was necessary to pay these charges and that three cents had gone to pay the interest on the enormous bonded indebtedness and dividends on the inflated stock4 ,the wage-earner1 the pensioner and every person living upon an annuity or fixed income from any source1 must thus pay usury or interest on obligations they never incurred4 ,a large portion of their living is thus taken from them1 and under a system of general usury they have no way of avoiding it4 ,they must pay an enormous tribute to property in providing the common necessaries of life4 ,usury lowers the poor man's wages4 ,the owners of property forbid its use until such a concession is made by the laborer as they may demand for the material and tools of production4 ,those who will use them and give the owner the highest return for their use secure the work1 i4e41 those who will bid the labor the lowest1 who will use the tools and work up the material the cheapest4 ,the demand of capital has come to absorb a large portion of the produce of labor4 ,in #ahij the wage-earners created a value of #c1egi1afh1agb and received out of it wages amounting to #a1iha1bbh1cba1 leaving in the hands of the employers #a1fhg1ici1hea4 ,labor thus received a little less than #ec per cent4 of its product4 ,in #aijj the wage-earners created a value of #d1fdj1ghd1ica and received out of it wages amounting to #b1cbc1djg1beg1 leaving in the hands of employers #b1cag1cgg1fgd4 ,the employers and employes divided labor's product so evenly that the difference does not amount to one-eighth of one per cent4 ,the decade #ahij to #aijj has been of unprecedented prosperity to capital1 but the advantages to labor have not appeared4 ,when the number of laborers at the beginning and the close of the decade are considered the annual income of the wage-earner at the close of the decade is actually #g per year less than ten years ago4 ,the tribute to property must first be gained1 the wages are secondary4 ,if the tribute is not paid the enterprise is regarded as not successful and the industry closes4 ,there is no protection for the laborer except the selfishness of capitalists themselves in competition to secure the services of labor4 ,but the selfish strife has rather resulted in the combination of their capital to dispense with labor or to cause the same labor to produce more by the employment of more capital4 ,the effect is to give employment to capital rather than to labor4 ,if labor can be dispensed with by borrowing more capital1 then a loan is secured and the laborer is dismissed4 ,thus capital is made to crowd out the laborer and gains for itself his reward4 ,this diminishes the call for labor and increases the number of the unemployed and they become competitors for the privilege of working4 ,the opportunities for labor becoming fewer1 the strife for work becomes fiercer4 ,the laborer is helpless to resist1 as his wants do not stop2 his family must be fed and clothed and housed4 ,the struggle is unequal between flesh and blood and a material thing that1 by a false economy1 is given not only the power of self-support but also continuous increase4 ,for this reason combinations of laborers never have been and never can be successful in a conflict with capital4 ,so long as the false principle is admitted1 all efforts must fail4 ,so long as it is granted that property has earning power1 the effort will be made by the owners of property1 and always successfully made1 to have property receive the larger portion of the reward4 ,the true order will be reversed2 the laborer will be given a mere subsistence while the increase will be claimed for the capital2 the very opposite of the true order1 the mere preservation or subsistence of the capital1 while all the increase belongs to the laborers4 ,,chapter ,,xxvii4 ,,usury ,,oppresses ,,the ,,poor--,continued4 ,usury makes it possible to impose on the poor the principal burden of taxation4 ,though taxes are levied upon property it is a delusion to think that those who own no property pay no taxes4 ,by usury the taxes are easily slipped upon the poor4 ,if the tax levy is one per cent4 on property then in a year the one hundred dollars has been decreased by one dollar and is but ninety-nine1 unless that dollar has been supplied from other earnings of the owner4 ,thus vacant lots1 jewels and hoarded stores are a burden to their owner4 ,but when the property can add to itself an increase1 then there need be no diminution of the amount1 and no sacrifice is necessary on the part of the owner4 ,if the wealth is placed in the form of a loan on mortgage on a house1 the tenant in his rental pays the interest on that mortgage1 which meets the tax and also yields a revenue to the owner1 and leaves the wealth undiminished4 ,the tenant earned the tax1 and both property and owner are relieved4 ,the mortgage may be upon a manufacturing plant1 when the operatives pay the tax from their earnings4 ,the bonded debt of a city or state1 in the ultimate result1 is collected from the productive labor4 ,to pay the interest and principal of the bonded debt of a city the tax levy is increased1 and a greater proportionate amount of labor is appropriated4 ,laboring people without property are often amazed at the indifference of property holders when a great bonded debt is incurred1 as both interest and principal are to be paid by a tax upon property4 ,those who make the loan to the city1 and all who hold mortgages and dividend paying properties1 are complacent because the taxes of a hundred years would never diminish their property a dollar1 though the tax levy should be doubled4 ,it would raise the interest on money1 diminish the price of labor and raise the price of goods1 but those who profit by the gain of usury are untouched by it4 ,recently complaints were made by the tenants of one of the poor districts of ,london because their rentals had been greatly increased4 ,the reply of the landlord was direct and clear3 ,you have voted for public improvements and now you must pay for them4 ,the same is true of the interest and principal of the national debt4 ,the revenue is raised from a levy upon importations1 as1 for example1 tea1 the tax on which is ten cents per pound4 ,the tax is collected from the importer and by him attached to the price for which it is sold to the wholesale dealer and by him attached to the price he charges the retail dealer and by him the amount is collected from the consumer4 ,sufficient notice is usually given that the importer and the dealers may dispose of all their goods before the tariff is removed4 ,a public announcement of such a purpose was recently made in reference to the tax upon tea4 ,the tax collected from the consumer is far heavier than the mere levy of the government4 ,the importer demands a profit on the amount of revenue tax he has paid as well as on the amount he pays for the goods4 ,this results in greatly increasing the burdens of the poor4 ,the revenue tax recently imposed by ,great ,britain of three pence per cwt4 on wheat and five pence per cwt4 on flour resulted immediately in the addition of one penny to the price of the four-pound loaf to the consumers4 ,again3 ,this attributing to property the quality of self-perpetuation and increase has led to its incorporation and in a manner separation from those who own it4 ,property must always have an owner4 ,personality must always come in else there are no rights to be considered4 ,labor apart from a person laboring and property apart from a person owning are impersonal and no ethical or moral laws can be applied to them4 ,they are only physical forces and material things4 ,the wind may push against a tree and overcome its resistance and the tree falls4 ,that is merely an abstract force against a material thing4 ,but when my energy is exerted against your tree and destroys it1 then personal responsibility and personal rights must be considered4 ,a righteous adjustment between labor and capital can never be arrived at without the consideration of the personal elements on both sides4 ,the moral and ethical laws must be applied as well as the physical and economic4 ,incorporated property1 however1 has eliminated from it the ethical and moral responsibility of personality and is regarded as possessed only of economic and physical qualities and restrained only by legal statutes4 ,incorporated properties are not generally managed by those who own them4 ,the managers are employed by the owners1 who are ready to pay large compensation to those who have the tact and brain and nerve power and peculiar quality of conscience to gain for them a satisfactory increase4 ,it is their work to press this irresponsible material body up against flesh and blood4 ,the incorporation employs the laborer when his labor earns a satisfactory dividend on the capital1 and lays him off or discharges him whenever it seems most to the advantage of the investment4 ,a plant is built and operated for a time and then the plant is closed1 or the location is changed without the slightest regard to the sacrifices of the poor laborers who have gathered around and are left stranded4 ,laborers everywhere throughout ,christendom need and beg for a ,sabbath of rest1 but neither physical needs nor conscientious scruples are regarded when a greater dividend can be gained in seven days than in six4 ,on the part of the workman1 resistance is useless4 ,he can do nothing but yield to the economic and physical force managed by those in whom human sympathy and pity for the suffering and helpless are not permitted4 ,the dividend must be gained though it be necessary to grind the poor4 ,the owner of this steel plant is in a distant city4 ,all employes1 from the manager down to the porter1 must so serve that he shall receive the dividend4 ,this mercantile house is owned by a woman on a pleasure trip round the world4 ,all who are connected with this business must so serve and sacrifice that she shall receive her income regularly4 ,this railroad is owned by those who have gone a-yachting in southern seas4 ,it must be so managed that the revenues shall not fail whatever the sacrifice required of others4 ,the writer once heard an ,american statesman1 who afterward became ,president of the ,united ,states1 deliver an elaborate and carefully prepared oration on a great occasion1 in which he discussed the growing power and controlling influence in state and national affairs of incorporations4 ,he did not formulate a remedy but said1 ,the problem to be solved by the next generation is1 how shall the people be protected against the encroachments of incorporated wealth8 ,it need scarcely be said that there was no discussion of that question during the campaign which closed with his election to the presidency4 ,usury is both the basis of the incorporation and the instrument of its oppression4 ,incorporated wealth must not be permitted to claim personal rights and yet escape personal responsibility4 ,it must be held to the same ethical and moral laws as the individual4 ,personal responsibility must not be eliminated from property4 ,it must not be divested of personal responsibility and then pressed as a mere material thing up against flesh and blood4 ,no instrument of oppression ever surpassed in severity the usury of incorporated wealth and retained the pretense of respectability4 ,it is sucking the blood of the poor every hour1 yet they cherish and pet the vampire1 not realizing that it is their blood upon which it feeds4 ,,chapter ,,xxviii4 ,,usury ,,oppresses ,,the ,,poor--,concluded4 ,usury increases its burdens in proportion to the poverty4 ,it is the most oppressive upon the poorest4 ,property in any measure is a relief4 ,however small the amount may be1 to that degree it assists in bearing the burden4 ,those who have a home are relieved of the burden of usury by rent4 ,those who own their shops or farms on which they can employ their labor are relieved of the usury of tools and material4 ,from the conditions now prevailing the burden of usury rests on all those1 the half of whose income is the product of their own labor4 ,the one who receives one-half his income from the interest on property and one-half from his own labor has no advantage from usury4 ,the income of his labor would bring him as many of the comforts of life as his labor now does1 plus the income from his property4 ,there is no advantage until a greater part of the income is derived from property4 ,a small savings account1 adding a few dollars annually to the income1 is a very small offset to the constant drain from usury in all that we buy and upon all our earnings4 ,the full burden however is upon those who have nothing but their own productive energy2 who receive only wages and must buy in the market4 ,as the relief afforded by property decreases1 the oppressive burden of usury in present conditions increases4 ,it is a fair estimate that usury is oppressive until relieved by the income from property to the amount of one-half of the entire income received4 ,when less1 the oppression begins and leans its full weight and without pity upon the poorest and most helpless4 ,he that has no property is dependent upon others for employment and in his wages must give a part of his product as tribute to the capital he uses4 ,this1 in the case of the average wage earner in this country1 is not less than one-third1 that is1 he who earns one dollar and a half will receive as wages one dollar1 the other half dollar is retained by the employer as due for the capital invested4 ,then having no home he must pay tribute to property in shelter for himself and family4 ,the rent will be higher in proportion to the poverty of the apartments4 ,the poorest tenement returns the highest rate of interest to the landlord4 ,his decreased wages do not make the necessities of life proportionately cheap to him4 ,he pays usury in the price of the fuel which he burns1 of the oil1 gas or electric light in his home4 ,in the price of vegetables1 bread and clothes and shoes4 ,there is an increased outgo at every turn which he cannot avoid4 ,he is helpless to resist4 ,he can but struggle staggering along while work is given and his health and strength remain4 ,when these fail he falls and must become entangled in debt1 from which there is no hope of being able to extricate himself4 ,the state recognizes the hopelessness of the poor man who is in debt and has provided a relief by bankruptcy1 by which he may again arise and struggle on4 ,this discharge in bankruptcy is an act of mercy but the relief from the oppressions of usury would be an act of justice4 ,grinding the helpless poor between low wages and high prices and then relieving them by the act of bankruptcy is only pulling them out of the mill to throw them into the hopper again1 for the wage earner who has no protection from any property is between these upper and nether mill stones4 ,those who defend the fraud of usury always take to cover behind the widow and the fatherless4 ,they plausibly pretend to be zealous for their protection while endeavoring to hide their own greed4 ,their pleas are often touchingly pathetic4 ,a thrifty loving father was taken away by death from a dear wife and sweet little ones4 ,they had always leaned on his strong arms4 ,he was their joy1 their protector and their support4 ,this widow and her fatherless children are left with nothing to support them except the saved hard earnings of this husband's life4 ,as these earnings are their only support they are deposited with care with the ',security ,co4' for safety and that the regular interest dues may be received without fail4 ,if there should be one failure they would suffer4 ,the ',security ,co4' loan their deposits as opportunity offers4 ,they take some local mortgages and also some mortgages on western lands4 ,they buy some bonds of a milling trust and also of a railroad and street car line and some national bonds and loan on personal security to local merchants and traders4 ,from all these sources the interest is regularly collected and regularly paid to this widowed mother1 without which she and her little fatherless dear ones must suffer4 ',certainly1' they say 'usury is not oppressive to the widow and the fatherless4 ,usury comes to the help of the helpless4' ,another faithful industrious father was taken away from his wife and his little ones4 ,he had been their stay and support4 ,he was sober and thrifty but sickness and untoward conditions made accumulations impossible4 ,when he1 the head of the home1 was taken away there was nothing for the support of these helpless little ones and their widowed mother but her own arms and head and heart4 ,there was no time for sentiment and tears4 ,these little ones must be sheltered and their hungry mouths must be fed4 ,restraining her grief1 she bravely undertakes the heavy task4 ,she rents a room but the rental is high1 for the interest must be paid on a mortgage held by the ,security ,co4 ,she finally finds a shop where she secures employment but the wages are low1 for the shop is heavily mortgaged to the ,security ,co4 and the interest must be paid or the shop will be closed and even this opportunity for scant wages will be lost4 ,the distance requires that she shall ride to her work but the round trip costs two nickels and one of them goes to the ,security ,co4 for interest on their bonds and stock4 ,she buys a loaf of bread but the wheat was raised on a western farm mortgaged to the ,security ,co4 and the interest was charged up against the wheat4 ,the wheat was floured in a trust mill and the interest on the ,security ,co4 bonds were charged up against the flour4 ,it was transported by a railroad that charged up against it the interest on the bonds held by the ,security ,co4 ,it was baked in a mortgaged oven and handled by a local dealer doing business on capital he had borrowed of the ,security ,co4 ,how much of her bread money went for interests is an intricate problem4 ,she only notices that her loaf is small4 ,the same oppressive tribute must be paid on all that she buys to feed and clothe herself and her little ones4 ,the first widow does not live upon the earnings of her husband4 ,they are untouched at the end of a year nor diminished as the years pass4 ,by the operation of usury she has lived upon the hard earnings of this poor widow4 ,the laborers on the western farms contributed to her support in decreases of wages2 the operatives of the railways1 the workmen in the mill1 the baker and merchant all contribute a portion1 but it cannot be denied that the heaviest burden comes upon the poorest4 ,the rich widow has fed her children with the bread which the poor widow earned4 ,the flaunting sympathy for the poor of those who themselves feed upon them1 is rank hypocracy4 ,nor can those who have grown fat by the practice of usury1 condone the crime by tossing back to them a portion of the unjust gain4 ,is it such a fast that ,i have chosen8 ,a day for a man to afflict his soul8444 ,is not this the fast that ,i have chosen8444 ,to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free8444 ,is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry1 and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house8 ,,chapter ,,xxix4 ,,usury ,,centralizes ,,wealth4 ,the dictum of ,bacon that ,usury gathers the wealth of the realm into few hands is readily proven and fully verified in the experience of these times4 ,the tendency to centralization under a system of usury or interest-taking is so strong1 and the modern result so apparent that the statement only is necessary4 ,usury not only enslaves the borrower and oppresses the poor who are innocent of all debt1 but it also affects the rich by gathering the wealth of the wealthy into fewer and fewer hands4 ,there is a centralizing draft that threatens and then finally absorbs the smaller fortunes into one colossal financial power4 ,it is as futile to resist this as to resist fate4 ,wealth cannot be so fortified and guarded as to successfully resist the attack of superior wealth when the practice of usury is permitted4 ,the smaller and weaker fortune1 using the same weapon as the larger and stronger1 must inevitably be defeated and overcome1 and ultimately absorbed4 ,rates of interest do not affect the ultimate result4 ,under a high rate the gathering is rapid1 under a low rate the accretions are slower1 but the gathering into few hands is none the less sure4 ,rates of interest only place the convergent center at a nearer or more remote period4 ,if any interest is right1 compound interest is right4 ,when simple interest is due and paid1 it may be loaned to another party1 and thus the usurer secures interest upon his interest1 though not from the same debtor4 ,when the interest is to be paid annually1 it is to be assumed1 if not paid1 that the debtor takes it as a loan in addition to the face of the note of his obligation4 ,this saves the care of receiving and re-loaning to another4 ,the custom of usurers1 however1 is to renew the note1 adding the interest to the face1 if unpaid4 ,the mass of bank paper is renewed each ninety days3 ,compounded four times a year1 whether to the same or to another debtor1 the result in accretion is the same4 ,few realize the rapidity at which a loan increases1 accelerating in geometrical progression as time passes4 ,any loan will double itself at three per cent4 in twenty-three and a half years2 at seven per cent4 in ten and a fourth years1 and at ten per cent4 in seven and a third years4 ,one dollar loaned for one hundred years1 at three per cent41 would amount to nineteen dollars2 at seven per cent4 one thousand dollars1 and at ten per cent4 thirteen thousand4 ,the island upon which ,new ,york stands was bought from the ,indians for the value of twenty-four dollars by ,peter ,minuits in #afbf4 ,yet1 if the purchaser had put his twenty-four dollars at interest1 where he could have added it to the principal at the rate of seven per cent41 the accumulation would now exceed the total value of the entire city and county of ,new ,york4 ,m4 ,jennet quotes the elaborate calculation of an ingenious author to show that #ajj francs 7#bj7 accumulating at five per cent4 compound interest for seven centuries1 would be sufficient to buy the whole surface of the globe1 both land and water1 at the rate of #a1jjj1jjj francs 7#bjj1jjj7 per hectare 7nearly four square miles74 ,from this we can gather that #bj at five per cent4 compound interest for #gjj years1 would buy all the earth1 mountains1 and swamp lands1 and water1 at #hj per acre4 ,another mathematical genius says1 had one cent been loaned on the first day of ,january ,a4,d4 #a1 interest being allowed at the rate of six per cent4 compounded yearly1 then #ahie years later--that is on ,january #a1 #ahie--the amount due would be #h1dig1hdj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1 #jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj 7#h1dig1hdj1jjj decillions74 ,if it were desired to pay this in gold1 #bc4b grains to the dollar1 then taking spheres of pure gold the size of the earth1 it would take #faj1jgj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj to pay for that cent4 ,placing these spheres in a straight row1 their combined length would be #d1hbf1hgj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj miles1 a distance which it would take light 7going at the rate of #ahf1ccj miles per second7 #hbj1hij1jjj years to travel4 ,the planets and stars of the entire solar and stellar universe1 as seen by the great ,lick telescope1 if they were all in solid gold1 would not nearly pay the amount4 ,a single sphere to pay the whole amount1 if placed with its centre at the sun1 would have its surface extending #efc1ehj1jjj miles beyond the orbit of the planet ,neptune1 the farthest in our system4 ,it may be added that if the earth had contained a population of ten billions1 each one making a million dollars a second1 then to pay for that cent it would have required their combined earnings for #bf1ich1ejj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj1jjj years4 ,anyone can figure on this and see if it be correct4 ,had ,peter only thought to put one cent at interest1 there would be no call now for ,peter's pence4 ,with any accretion allowed1 the concentration of wealth is irresistible4 ,however small the amount of capital1 if permitted to grow at any rate of increase it will ultimately absorb everything4 ,any finite quantity permitted any finite rate of increase1 will1 in finite time1 gather all that is less than infinite4 ,the only difficulty in this accretion is to secure debtors that will not die4 ,we inherit the property of our fathers1 but fortunately we do not inherit their personal debts4 ,this difficulty is being overcome by bonds of corporations and nations that live on1 though the individuals composing them may1 age after age1 pass away4 ,this makes the increase perpetual4 ,generations may come and go1 but the concentration of wealth goes uninterruptedly on4 ,this is not visionary theory1 but is shown in the practical results everywhere apparent4 ,the usurers of ,england1 a little over two hundred years ago1 secured a charter for a bank on the condition that they loan the crown or government #a1bjj1jjj pounds sterling1 about six million dollars4 ,this was a perpetual loan1 never to be repaid1 but annual interest at eight per cent4 was to be paid by the government forever4 ,this constant annual interest paid to this bank has made it such a financial power that it reaches and draws to itself of the resources of all lands4 ,the aggregated wealth of the institution1 if the accretions were continuous1 would now be #be1afe1hbd1jjj1jjj4 ,the wealth of the ,united ,kingdom is estimated at fifty billions1 and all ,europe two hundred billions1 the ,united ,states seventy billions1 and the whole world's wealth at five hundred billions4 ,were the accretions of the bank at eight per cent4 undisturbed and unconsumed1 it would now take fifty worlds as rich as ours to pay that debt4 ,it is sometimes wondered how there can be such an accumulation of wealth in one institution as to control the finances of the world4 ,it is often attributed to superior wisdom or some profound1 occult manipulation4 ,it is but the natural operation of the principle of interest--accretion from age to age4 ,the managers may be stupid dolts1 only so they do not interfere with the usurious principle in its eternal pull on the resources of mankind4 ,the interest bearing debt of the ,united ,states1 at this date1 is about one thousand millions4 ,this in one hundred years at six per cent4 would amount to #cdj1jjj1jjj1jjj2 five times the whole present wealth of the nation4 ,the smallest national bank organized1 by the deposit of #be1jjj of bonds yielding two per cent4 interest1 and permitted to re-loan the same funds to its private customers at eight per cent41 could gather to itself in one hundred years1 #cde1bbe1jjj4 ,the wealth of an individual or of a family may also grow with the years as they pass4 ,the property may be in public bonds or that of incorporations1 requiring no care or effort on their part1 yet it may be continually increasing4 ,a usurer in any community in one life comes to absorb the wealth of that community1 though the amount loaned at the beginning was small4 ,the accretions are the irresistible result of the principle of usury4 ,the wealth is more and more centralized as the years pass4 ,great trees in the forest shadow the smaller1 and rob them of the sunshine and moisture until they perish4 ,great fish in the crowded pond feed upon the smaller4 ,individual manufacturers are absorbed by the great combinations called trusts4 ,the stockholders of a railroad are absorbed by those who have large and controlling interest4 ,but the railroad is itself absorbed by another yet greater corporation1 and this again by a great combine that eliminates the influence of all but the chief control1 and tends to a complete centralization of all the systems4 ,there is no escaping from this centralizing draft upon all resources1 when the system of interest-taking is as general as now4 ,freedom from personal debt does not deliver us4 ,the farmer1 the most independent of men1 in his own home1 free from personal debt1 yet must contribute to this centralizing by paying interest on bonds in every shipment of produce1 and every mile of railroad travel4 ,he pays tribute also in all the tools that he buys1 in the food that he eats and the clothes that he wears4 ,this centralizing draft is constant1 though not always equally apparent4 ,certain favorable conditions may hold in check1 for a time1 the adverse influence and cause a temporary distribution of wealth to the producers4 ,its force is not1 however1 destroyed1 but only restrained for a time1 and then draws with accumulated power4 ,times of industrial depression and commercial disasters are occurring over and over again4 ,some economists attribute them to the peculiar industrial and monetary conditions of the periods in which they occur2 but they have seldom agreed as to the causes of any particular panic4 ,they are so regular in their recurrence that some economists have thought they must be produced by some constant cause2 like the moon causing the tides of the ocean4 ,both are true4 ,there is a general and there is also a secondary or superficial cause4 ,the times of greatest commercial disasters in this country were in the years #ahji1 #ahah1 #ahcg1 #ahgc1 #ahic4 ,the political economists can assign as reasons some peculiar conditions prevailing in each of these periods1 but the wisest have never gone deep enough to discover the general cause2 this constant centralizing draft of usury4 ,in these periods of commercial disaster there is no destruction of property4 ,there is only a general shake up and redistribution4 ,all the wealth of the country remains1 but after the disaster wealth is always found to be in fewer hands4 ,some have become rich1 many who were thought to be wealthy are ruined1 and the number of the poor has been multiplied4 ,a patient may be afflicted with some deep-seated1 chronic disease that makes him very easily affected by a change of the weather1 by a change of his diet or of his bed1 and these may be assigned as the causes of his frequent relapses1 and they are the immediate or secondary causes1 but the real cause is the deep-seated1 chronic disease4 ,cure that disease and the changes in conditions1 now so serious1 would not be noticed by the healthy man4 ,the real and constant cause of our recurring financial disasters is this centralizing usury that directly opposes the distribution of wealth that is natural1 when the producers of wealth are permitted to receive and enjoy it4 ,root out this evil1 and then the trifling differences in our harvests1 changes in our tariff laws1 currency legislation1 and the score of other things that now affect us1 would be unfelt by the healthy body politic4 ,if this centralizing power is destroyed then the natural distribution would be undisturbed1 and these1 so-called1 panics would be unknown4 ,,chapter ,,xxx4 ,,mammon ,,dominates ,,the ,,nations4 ,the debt habit has been diligently cultivated and encouraged1 until the nations are enslaved4 ,public bonds imply bondsmen1 and the nations are no longer free4 ,there is a mortgage upon the inventive genius1 industry and productive energy of the world4 ,usurers greatly prefer an organized government as a debtor4 ,the individual may die1 but a nation's debts bind from age to age1 are bequeathed by the fathers to the children1 and thus descend from generation to generation4 ,the bonds of no corporation1 however great and rich1 can be so secure4 ,they embrace special industries1 while national debts are a claim upon every industry and a mortgage upon every foot of soil1 and every dollar of present personal property1 and of all that may be produced in the whole realm4 ,if we express the world's indebtedness1 the national debts1 in the terms of our currency1 as nearly as we can reduce the currency of other nations to such an expression1 we find the national debts as follows1 in #ahij3 ,denmark #cc1jjd1gbb ,great ,britain #c1hdh1dfj1jjj ,united ,states #iae1ifb1aab ,germany #a1ief1bag1jag ,austria-,hungary #b1fff1cci1eci ,france #d1ddf1gic1cih ,russia #c1dia1jaf1jgd ,italy #b1cbd1hbf1cbi ,spain #a1bea1dcc1jif ,netherlands #dcj1eci1fec ,belgium #cfj1ejd1jii ,sweden #fd1bbj1hjg ,norway #ac1igc1geb ,portugal #dij1dic1eii ,greece #ajg1cjf1eah ,turkey #hba1jjj1jjj ,switzerland #aj1iab1ibe --------------- ,these debts aggregate #bb1iee1chf1jjh ,hundreds of millions have been added to these national debts in the last ten years4 ,nearly every nation has increased its indebtedness1 possibly no nation has decreased it1 and others1 like ,china1 with its recent great loan1 and little ,korea1 with its twelve millions1 must be added to the list4 ,the debts of the nations of ,europe have been increased until they now amount in the aggregate to twenty-three billions4 ,the debts of the nations of all the world have increased one-half since #ahij1 and now aggregate thirty-three billions4 ,these great national debts are practically perpetual1 and though they may be at so low a rate of interest as three per cent41 they absorb the energies of the people1 and1 like a glacier grinding over the earth1 crush all beneath them4 ,public debts are incurred to relieve the present wealth of the burden of present duty4 ,debts place the whole burden on producers of the future4 ,they relieve those who hold the wealth now1 but are a draft upon those who make the wealth that is to be4 ,an individual incurring debt places a mortgage upon his productions2 by a pledge of future production he relieves himself of the strain of the present4 ,a family incurs debt2 a part of the members of the house are strong and capable of productive labor1 and a part are not2 the whole burden of the payment comes upon the productive members of the home4 ,the weak and helpless and the indolent1 though strong1 bear no part of the burden4 ,this family has a home1 and a mortgage is placed upon it to secure the present needs4 ,the burden of paying the interest on this mortgage1 and the final payment of the principal1 is wholly on the capable and industrious members of the family4 ,national debts are incurred to relieve the present wealth of the burden of present government calls and obligations1 and to roll it upon those who shall produce wealth in the future4 ,so the debt of a city1 state1 or nation is a present relief to property holders1 by placing the producers under future obligations4 ,a street in a city is to be paved2 no additional tax is levied2 but bonds are issued running twenty years4 ,this relieves the present wealth of the burden1 placing it upon those who shall produce the wealth that shall be in twenty years4 ,the expenses of a great war must be met4 ,present taxes may be slightly increased1 but to meet the burden consols or public bonds are issued to be paid at a distant date4 ,this relieves the present wealth1 but binds it upon those who shall be the producers of wealth in the generations to come4 ,hume says1 ,the practice of contracting debts will almost invariably be abused by every government4 ,it would scarcely be more imprudent to give a prodigal son a credit with every banker1 than to empower statesmen to draw bills in this manner on posterity4 ,these public bonds are the golden opportunity of the usurers4 ,not only is their wealth relieved of all burden1 but it affords an opportunity of profitable investment with the best possible debtor4 ,they can pose as enterprising citizens1 and urge great public improvements1 and at the same time gain a most sure and profitable investment4 ,they can pose as patriots in time of war1 and urge that it be pressed with energy at whatever cost of treasure and blood4 ,it is not their blood that is shed1 nor their wealth that is wasted4 ,it gives them the opportunity of binding their burdens on the nation for the producers of the coming generations to carry4 ,usurers never wish public debts paid4 ,they wish them issued for as long time as possible1 and then reissued1 or the time extended before they are due4 ,this is done by the figment called refunding1 as if it were a concession and favor to a poor debtor4 ,it is but a device to keep the burden on the public back4 ,it is not a financial feat and triumph for the chancellor of the exchequer to refund a public debt4 ,he but yields himself as a tool to the usurers to continue their loans4 ,they resist the payment when due1 but when an officer is found willing to extend them before they are due all trouble is avoided and the accretions of interest are not interrupted for a day4 ,those who hold the bonds of a nation direct its destinies4 ,the nation borrowing is servant to the lender1 just as an individual4 ,the nation compromises its freedom and becomes the slave of its bond-holders4 ,the usurers use their power for the advancement of their own material interests1 and hold all other purposes of government as inferior to their own ends4 ,this subordination of a people1 to the creditors1 is fatal to republican and constitutional governments2 the form may be preserved for a time1 but the substance of free government has departed4 ,the concentration of wealth carries with it the concentration of power1 and is inimical to republican institutions4 ,a proper distribution of wealth and power must be preserved or popular government is put in jeopardy4 ,the first bank of deposit and discount was the ,bank of ,venice1 in the republic of ,venetia4 ,it continued its existence for six hundred years1 until the government that gave it life itself perished4 ,from its long continuous business1 and its success as a bank1 it has been spoken of in every work on banking as a model4 ,it began its association with the republic in #aaga1 and dominated it1 sapping its life1 and assuming its functions1 until the bank practically ruled the state1 and when one fell both perished in #agig4 ,the usurers received their hold on the state in a time of the greatest need4 ,the republic had been impoverished by the crusades1 and was in dire financial straits4 ,advantage was taken of this by the usurers to so bind the bank and state together that when one lived the other must1 or both must die together4 ,stock in the bank was a loan to the state at four per cent4 annual interest4 ,the union seemed to promise great prosperity for a time1 but really absorbed all the republic's vitality during the last hundred years of their life4 ,venetia was at the first a pure democracy4 ,the ,doge was elected by the people and administered the government1 himself being the responsible head4 ,he1 later1 chose advisers1 or a cabinet1 to be associated in the responsible duties4 ,after this1 and about the time of the association with the bank1 a representative council was elected by the people1 and the government was administered by the ,doge and this council4 ,this was gradually transformed from a government of the people to an oligarchy2 and as the years passed there were no steps taken toward a return1 but the authority and power was more and more centralized4 ,the ruling class was1 in a hundred years1 limited to those families enrolled in the ,golden ,book4 ,in another hundred years the government was in control of the ,council of ,ten4 ,later the secret tribunal of three was the terror of the people and the instrument of their oppression4 ,the republic was only such in name1 the people were deprived of all voice in the government1 and the ,doge became a puppet to obey the ruling cabal4 ,shakespeare went to ,venice to find his typical usurer in ,shylock the ,jew4 ,he found there also his typical ,christian1 ,antonio4 ,antonio was a benevolent great soul1 who loved his friends1 supported all benevolences1 and hated the usurers4 ,shylock hated him because he would lend without interest1 and was constantly reproving him for his usurious practice4 ,the contest between the usurers and the people of the ,venetian republic was a struggle for the life1 but the usurers never relaxed their hold4 ,they dominated until the end4 ,another great triumph of the usurers was in ,england at the time of great need4 ,william and ,mary had been placed upon the throne by the ,protestants1 but were in need of money to carry on the struggle for its complete establishment4 ,this was the usurers' opportunity4 ,former kings1 in like straits1 had confiscated the wealth of the usurious ,jews1 ,lombards and ,goldsmiths1 and appropriated their property as a penalty for their unchristian practice1 but ,william and ,mary entered into a contract with them to gain their assistance1 giving them special privileges to secure a permanent loan4 ,they were to loan the crown #a1bjj1jjj pounds sterling4 ,this was never to be repaid1 but interest at the rate of eight per cent4 per annum was to be paid forever4 ,this loan was a marvel of success4 ,there was a great rush of usurers to place their money with the crown as a perpetual loan at that rate of increase4 ,their usuries1 which had hitherto been counted dishonest gain1 were henceforth to be honorable1 and they esteemed as patriots4 ,thus1 the first ,protestant power in the world was established in the hands of usurers1 and bound to continue associated with them forever4 ,the story1 by ,macauley1 of the establishment of the ,bank of ,england1 is familiar to all students of ,english history4 ,this bank is a great corporation2 the ,board of ,directors is composed of twenty-six members1 who elect their own successors1 and thus it is entirely independent4 ,it makes laws for its own direction in the name of the people or defies their control4 ,in #agig it secured an order from the privy council ordering itself to suspend specie payment4 ,it obeyed its own order promptly1 and at the same time announced their strength and that the order would be temporary2 but for one excuse and another it was continued for twenty-five years4 ,sir ,robert ,peel1 in #ahdd1 having become convinced of the dangerous and disastrous influence1 expanding and contracting its loans1 secured the enactment of a law to regulate and limit its circulation4 ,this law was distasteful to the bank1 and was1 upon its enactment1 defied by open disobedience4 ,it has not only dictated the laws for its own regulation1 but directed both the domestic and the foreign policy of the government4 ,it has subordinated the public weal to financial profit4 ,this corporation of usurers manage all the finances of the kingdom1 and has more influence than ,crown and ,parliament combined4 ,as a great uncrowned king it dictates the diplomatic policies of the ,united ,kingdom4 ,its influence has not been extended to promote ,protestant ,christian faith1 ,jews are not zealous for any ,christian sect2 nor for the purpose of lifting up the degraded and enlightening them2 nor in the east has it exercised its power to relieve human suffering1 but its diplomatic policy has been mercenary greed always4 ,it should be noted that the enlightened ,christian people of the ,united ,kingdom are not the ,english government4 ,there has been1 for two hundred years1 a power behind the ,throne1 behind ,parliament1 behind the people1 essentially selfish and commercial4 ,this has controlled ,india for profit1 while the benevolent people were anxious to christianize and uplift4 ,it has befriended the ,turk while ,england wept over the ,turkish barbarities4 ,it forced opium upon ,china while the ,christian people sent missionaries4 ,the people of ,england love freedom1 yet the government has endeavored to crush it in the ,american colonies and everywhere throughout the world1 when in conflict with a selfish commercial policy4 ,the ,english people cry out against human slavery1 yet in the struggle in the ,united ,states1 when slavery was in the balance1 the ,english government earnestly espoused the cause of those who upheld slavery4 ,the ,english people rejoiced that the slave trade in ,africa was abolished1 yet the government enacted the hut tax1 and compels now the service of the young and vigorous blacks in the mines1 sending them back to their people when their strength declines4 ,in the establishment of the republic of the ,united ,states there was a strong resistance to any debt or subordination to usurers4 ,the history of banks in the ,united ,states shows a struggle at the birth of the nation between the usurers1 who demanded the management of the finances1 and the people who resisted4 ,this struggle continued for half a century1 when the people triumphed1 and for thirty years there was no hint of a purpose to overthrow what was regarded as the settled policy of the nation4 ,the first bank was incorporated in #agia4 ,its establishment was strongly resisted1 but being urged by the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 a charter was granted for twenty years4 ,when that charter expired by limitation in #ahaa1 there was a struggle by the usurers to secure its renewal1 but they were defeated4 ,they did not1 however1 abandon their effort4 ,in #ahaf they secured the charter of the second bank of the ,united ,states4 ,this charter was also limited to twenty years1 expiring in #ahcf4 ,there was a tremendous struggle for its renewal1 but the chief executive1 backed by a strong political party1 so completely defeated it that the usurers for the time yielded1 and for thirty years the settled policy of the government forbade the alliance with usurers and the making of any public debt4 ,many of the leading statesmen of that period were very pronounced in their opposition4 ,the banking system concentrates and places the power in the hands of those who control it4 ,never was an engine invented better calculated to place the destines of the many in the hands of the few1 or less favorable to that equality and independence which lies at the bottom of our free institutions4--,j4,c4 ,calhoun4 ,i object to the continuance of this bank because its tendencies are dangerous and pernicious to the government and the people4 ,it tends to aggravate the inequality of fortunes2 to make the rich richer1 and the poor poorer2 to multiply nabobs and paupers1 and to deepen and widen the gulf that separates ,dives from ,lazarus4--,thomas ,h4 ,benton4 ,i sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies4 ,i am not among those who fear the people4 ,they and not the rich are our dependence for continued freedom4 ,and to preserve their independence1 we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debts4--,thomas ,jefferson4 ,events have satisfied my mind1 and ,i think the minds of the ,american people1 that the mischief and dangers which flow from a national bank far overbalance all its advantages4--,andrew ,jackson4 ,the usurers were compelled to remain under public condemnation during thirty years1 as sentiment was strongly against them and conditions were not in their favor1 but they did not relax their watchful effort nor abandon hope of ultimate success4 ,when the nation was struggling to prevent its dissolution in #ahfa-e1 and unusual war measures seemed necessary to meet the great emergency1 the usurers saw their opportunity and came forward1 as they did in ,venice and ,england2 they would loan the government the funds necessary to carry on the war1 if the government would comply with their conditions and grant them the privileges demanded4 ,they asked that their loan be perpetual1 like the ,english loan2 that they should be freed from the burdens of the government2 that their loan should be free from taxation2 that they should receive their interest semi-annually1 and not in the common legal tender1 but in coin2 that they be permitted to issue their own notes as currency to be loaned to their customers2 that the government discredit its own issues and endorse theirs2 and that they be given a monopoly by taxing out of existence all opposition4 ,these were great demands1 and were regarded as extortionate and oppressive4 ,the struggle was severe1 but the enemy in the field was threatening the life of the nation1 while the usurers were urgent and posing as patriots1 that they might accomplish their ends4 ,true patriots1 anxious to defeat the enemy in arms1 regarded these usurers at home as equally the enemies of freedom4 ,they were in a strait betwixt two foes4 ,secretary ,mc,cullough said1 ,hostility to the government has been as decidedly manifested in the efforts that have been made in the commercial metropolis of the nation to depreciate the currency as has been by the enemy4 ,the opposition to the usurers was very strong and bitter1 but the conditions were in their favor and they gained a decided advantage4 ,in the ,senate the vote stood twenty-three yeas to twenty-one nays4 ,it was carried only as a war measure4 ,there was an effort to limit the usurers' privileges to the war and one year after its close4 ,this was not successful1 but their loan was confined to the war debt1 and their time to its payment1 limited to twenty years4 ,this action caused great distress and dark forebodings of evil to many of the thoughtful4 ,it was setting aside the policy of the nation1 which had been generally acquiesced in as wise and judicious and safe for many years4 ,the old patriot ,thadeus ,stevens1 in the opening of a speech in a preliminary skirmish between patriotism and usurers1 said3 ,i approach the subject with more depression of spirits than ,i ever before approached any question4 ,no personal motive or feeling influences me4 ,i hope not1 at least4 ,i have a melancholy foreboding that we are about to consummate a cunningly devised scheme1 which will carry great injury and great loss to all classes of people throughout the ,union1 except one4 ,later he said1 in excuse of the action1 ,we had to yield1 we did not yield until we found that the country must be lost or the banks gratified1 and we have sought to save the country in spite of the cupidity of its wealthier classes4 ,the usurers have never relaxed the hold they secured by this victory1 and have since been continually increasing their power4 ,they obtained an extension or refunding of the war debt1 and a renewal of their charters by the general laws1 so their hold is indefinitely extended4 ,bonds are no longer limited to the covering of war expenses1 but are issued freely in times of peace4 ,the traditions of the fathers have been cast to the winds1 and their fears derided and their policy changed4 ,the usurers have been firmly in the saddle for many years1 and have defeated every effort that has been made to unseat them4 ,the great debts of the nations have brought all mankind into subjection to the usurers4 ,those who hold the bonds have the destinies of the race in their hands4 ,they pervert the ends of government2 the protection of life1 liberty and the highest good of all the people2 they make governments their tools to gather and appropriate the earnings of the many4 ,they have exalted ,mammon upon the throne of the world1 and scoff at the ,god of heaven1 who seeks the poor and needy1 and who would in love lift up every son and daughter of the whole race4 ,milton presents ,mammon as one of the devils cast out of heaven with ,satan1 and as saying in the council of the demons1 ,what place can be found for us within heaven's bound1 unless heaven's ,lord we overpower8444 ,how wearisome eternity so spent in worship paid1 to one we hate4 ,the reign of ,mammon subordinates character and virtue and liberty and human life to sordid gain1 yet he holds the scepter of power4 ,he elects legislators and senators4 ,he elects governors or directs their arrest if they refuse to obey him4 ,he elects presidents and dictates their policies4 ,he places kings on their thrones and holds them there while they do his bidding4 ,he strips a ,khedive of power1 and yet retains him as a collector of revenue4 ,he steadies the ,sultan's tottering throne1 and compels six great ,christian powers to stand by in silence while humanity is outraged4 ,the ,armenian's blood must be permitted to flow because the persecution is by a great servant1 the ,sultan1 who pays interest on bonds1 and his victims are only freemen4 ,the murder of one hundred thousand ,armenians meant nothing to ,mammon4 ,but when the ,cretans were persecuted by the same ,sultan1 the suffering and bloodshed was soon ordered stopped by these same six powers1 at ,mammon's command4 ,the ,cretans were servants of the common master2 the ,cretan bonds were endangered4 ,the cry of suffering humanity came up to deaf ears1 but the cry of endangered bonds was heard from afar by this reigning god of wealth4 ,the little republics of ,africa were freemen1 and therefore ,mammon sees them strangled with indifference4 ,mammon gathers the civilized nations around ,china and demands that she shall be enslaved by all the bonds she can safely carry or submit to vivisection and distribution4 ,this enslavement of the race is not by the destroying of intelligence1 nor by denying the first principles of civil liberty1 nor by crushing the aspirations for freedom1 but by producing conditions that make the application of these principles and the exercise of freedom impossible4 ,though the race may increase in intelligence and theoretically have correct views of personal freedom and civil liberty1 yet the conditions produced necessarily by usury utterly prevent their realization4 ,the intelligence and aspirations of the race never were higher than at present1 their subjection and subordination to material wealth was never more complete4 ,the scepter wherein lies ,mammon's power to sway the nations is usury4 ,when bonds bear no increase his sovereignty is gone4 ,all motive to involve the nation in debt at once disappears1 and the power to control is lost4 ,moses' law was divinely wise that forbade interest1 that his people could not be enslaved and might remain a free people forever4 ,,chapter ,,xxxi4 ,,effect ,,on ,,character4 ,the greatest factor in life in all ages is not material wealth1 nor social position1 nor genius1 nor education1 but character4 ,since man is above things1 the highest purpose is not the gathering of that beneath him1 but the developing of the best and noblest that is in him4 ,the highest possible purpose and work is the developing of virtuous manhood4 ,this was the thought of our fathers when they came to these shores and built their homes and established the free institutions which we now enjoy4 ,they sacrificed material advantages that they might be free men and secure for themselves and for their children the opportunity to reach in faith and practice the ideal manhood4 ,no material advantage can be regarded with favor that is detrimental to the characters of men4 ,position1 wealth1 education1 are worse than worthless when associated with a corrupted manhood4 ,ill fares the land1 to hastening ills a prey1 ,where wealth accumulates1 and men decay4 ,the test of truth is its developing of the virtues and graces4 ,falsehood is detected by its quickening the vices that degrade and destroy4 ,by their fruits shall ye know them4 ,virtues are linked together so that the promoting of one gives strength to the others4 ,all vices are also so linked that the stimulating of one quickens other vices4 ,virtues and vices are opposite1 so that the encouraging of a vice or fault discourages the opposing virtue4 ,when you discourage a virtue1 you encourage a vice4 ,the old-fashioned virtues which our fathers prized1 and which they regarded essential elements of worthy manhood1 were industry1 and honesty1 and self-reliance1 and brotherly sympathy1 and the devout recognition of ,god's divine sovereignty4 #a4 ,usury discourages industry and encourages idleness4 ,the laborer is stirred to diligence when he gets good wages4 ,when his wages are meager he becomes discouraged1 relaxes his efforts and may abandon his work altogether4 ,when he knows that he is receiving less than he is earning1 and that a part of his earnings are appropriated by another1 he is embittered and becomes indifferent4 ,when he receives all he earns1 and the more diligent he is in his work the more he receives1 he is stimulated to the utmost4 ,this will be especially true if it is made impossible to secure a gain without earning it4 ,the benefit of full wages may be largely lost by the knowledge of persons who1 without productive effort1 are appropriating the earnings of others4 ,the influence of their easy1 indolent lives may destroy or counteract the beneficent influence of good wages4 ,the laborer may be led to despise his well-paid tasks and yearn for their ease1 and thus become indolent4 ,one is encouraged to idleness when he discovers that he can secure his bread by the sweat of another's face4 ,he is likely to relax his efforts if he does not forsake all personal productive occupations4 ,he may give great care and the closest attention to the management of his wealth1 loaning to others and collecting the increase1 but not to productive industry4 ,there are activities that look like virtues1 but they are perverted efforts4 ,the slave-driver may work as hard as the slave in his efforts to appropriate the earnings of others4 ,the thief may work in the night and endure more hardness to secure the property of another than would be necessary to honestly earn it4 ,the usurer may give his thought1 night and day1 to the placing of his wealth the most securely and at the best rates of interest1 and at the same time abandon all effort in the direct management of useful productive enterprises4 ,the complete result of usury upon the habit of industry can be realized in those who have grown up under its influence2 those who have an income secure from invested funds4 ,when there is no need1 present nor prospective1 there is no motive to active industry1 and the love of ease and pleasure grows and drives out all heart for productive effort4 ,the industrious habit coupled with economy is called thrift4 ,it is not parsimony or unwillingness to give1 but a disposition to save4 ,our ,lord1 who was the prince of givers and inculcated unlimited giving among his followers1 gave a lesson in thrift when he said after his miracle1 ,gather up the fragments1 that nothing be lost4 ,enforced industry and economy is not thrift4 ,when by low wages or grinding conditions the necessities of life are with difficulty secured1 the very opposite disposition may be cultivated4 ,when the external restraints are removed1 the wildest extravagance may be indulged in4 ,this is sometimes given as an excuse for low1 grinding wages2 that the workmen and their wives have no idea of saving2 that higher wages would be wasted in foolish extravagance4 ,no one in normal conditions will be wasteful of that which has cost him hard labor4 ,his care for it will naturally be in proportion to the effort that was necessary to secure it4 ,those who waste the wealth of the world are not those who by the sweat of their faces have produced it4 ,the habit of thrift comes from the knowledge of the value of a thing1 learned by earning it4 ,only that which comes without effort will be spent without thought4 ,those who have livings secured from the increase or interest of productive capital1 having no need of industry1 are wholly occupied with the spending2 but in spending only1 the value of the thing spent is not appreciated1 the habit of extravagance grows and they become the idlers and the spendthrifts of the world4 #b4 ,it prevents open and frank honesty4 ,when the thought is turned to an endeavor to secure a dollar that is not earned1 there is secretiveness of purpose and inward guile4 ,no person doing business on borrowed capital advertises the number and amount of his loans nor does he welcome inquiry by others4 ,in a column of advertisements by money lenders in a newspaper lying on this table every one promises privacy or no publicity4 ,no one can be so open and frank as the one who earns every dollar that he receives or seeks4 ,the possibility of speculation is ruinous4 ,the first step in the wreck of integrity in a young man's character is when he becomes absorbed in some scheme by which he can secure gain without honestly earning it4 ,lotteries are outlaws not only because they defraud but they undermine integrity and honest industry4 ,when property earns property1 and the gain is secured with no struggle on his part1 the temptation is presented and the disintegration of his character has begun4 ,when there is no gain except by production1 the whole thought and energy of the man is directed to that end1 and his desire to secure that earned by another is restrained4 ,the frank1 open disposition is preserved4 ,honest productive toil drives out the spirit of speculation4 ,under usury1 both lender and borrower are in the attitude of expectants of unearned gain4 #c4 ,it discourages the spirit of self-reliance4 ,usury causes a broad separation between a man of property and the man of mere muscle or brain4 ,it makes such large combinations of capital possible in immense shops and department stores and other enterprises1 that the individual workman is belittled4 ,under the principle of usury1 property can produce as well as brain or muscle4 ,one having property can control both4 ,his property places him in a position as a superior4 ,he comes to forget the relations he bears to men as equals1 and requires that those who have only their natural gifts shall be cringing supplicants before him or be denied his favor4 ,the borrower or the laborer who asserts his rights is endangered by the man controlling property1 who has him in his power4 ,that independent1 self-reliant spirit1 that looks every man in the face as an equal yet lingers in the country among the hills and mountains1 but is fast disappearing from the city4 ,there has come to the laborer in the town or city a feeling of dependence upon others and a desire to secure their favor4 ,they almost feel that they must apologize for being laborers1 and beg for an opportunity to earn a living in some one's employ4 ,one of the saddest facts1 and most threatening of disaster in these present commercial conditions1 is the common desire to be employed1 to get a job1 dependent on the whim of another1 instead of a determination to direct one's own labor and be the manager of one's own business4 ,the sound educational development is wanting in the daily occupation of the hired laborer1 and there is a loss of manhood that has no compensation4 ,the independent spirit slips away so gradually that its going is scarcely noticed1 but when once gone the degradation is complete4 ,a family of free ,hebrews went down into ,egypt1 and for a long time was in favor with the rulers1 but they gradually lost their independence and became more and more servile and cringing until the ,egyptian masters dared to go into their homes and pick up their boy babies and take them out and drown them as if they were worthless puppies4 ,the hopelessness of the ,ottoman ,empire today is more in the cringing subordination and broken spirit of the people than in the oppression of the ,sultan4 ,his government might be overthrown in a day1 but it would take ages to lift up that empire of prostrate slaves and to cultivate in them the self-assertion and self-reliance necessary to a free people4 ,every man who loves his country and his race must view with alarm this growing feeling of subordination and cringing disposition4 ,it is the very reverse of that democratic spirit or consciousness of equality that must prevail to secure the permanency of our republican institutions4 #d4 ,it destroys fraternal sympathy4 ,two classes are found in every modern community4 ,the one is the laborers with muscle or brain1 the other class1 those whose property produces for them4 ,between these classes there is a great wall fixed4 ,it cannot be expected that they will mingle harmoniously and be in sympathy in civil and social relations4 ,producing and non-producing classes can never be congenially associated4 ,the question is frequently discussed in church circles1 ,how can the laboring man be attracted to the churches8 ,the discussion often presumes that the non-laboring man does find the church congenial4 ,if he does1 all efforts to win the other class will be in vain4 ,the church itself needs to correct its teachings and reform its spirit4 ,the moral law commands ,six days shalt thou work1 and there is no release because a man has property4 ,so long as a man has brain or brawn he is bound by that law4 ,if he is not1 he is not a moral man1 and has no rightful place in the church of ,god4 ,honest1 upright1 industrious ,christian men1 engaged in all lines of production for human needs1 may be congenial and co-operate most harmoniously1 but they never can be made comfortable in association with those who are unproductive and idle1 yet living in luxury4 #e4 ,usury promotes that ,covetousness which is idolatry4 ,as heathens place their confidence in idols1 so doth the avaricious man place his confidence in silver and gold4 ,the covetous person1 though he doth not indeed believe his riches or his money to be ,god1 yet by so loving and trusting in them1 as ,god alone ought to be loved and trusted in1 he is as truly guilty of idolatry as if he so believed4 ,idolatry is the act of ascribing to things or persons properties that are peculiar to ,god4 ,the principal objects of worship are those things which bring to men the greatest good4 ,the sun has been the most general object of idolatrous worship in all the ages4 ,it is the most conspicuous object1 and is the source of light and heat1 and rules the seasons4 ,its worship was so general that the ,hebrew people1 when they lapsed from the worship of ,god1 turned to the worship of the sun or ,baal4 ,no natural object is more worthy of worship4 ,job declaring his integrity and freedom from idolatry1 said that he had not kissed his hand in salute of the sun in his rising4 ,the river ,nile was an object of idolatrous worship for ages4 ,its source was a mystery1 and its annual rise in its rainless valley was so beneficent1 that it was given the worship which belonged to the ,divine alone4 ,all the hope of the harvest depended on its annual overflow4 ,it moistened and fertilized and prepared the ground1 and then receded until the harvest was grown and gathered4 ,moses showed the ,egyptians the impotence of their idols by making this chief idol1 and the things that came out of it1 a curse4 ,the cow was worshiped because it was the most useful and necessary of their animals4 ,a real or supposed power to give or withhold favors has been from the beginning the source and spring of idolatry4 ,riches1 property1 as the means of supplying our needs1 is an object more coveted than any other4 ,the principle of usury greatly aggravates this tendency4 ,the principle of usury makes it imperishable2 it can be perpetuated1 unimpaired from year to year and from age to age2 it is a constant source of benefit2 it is productive of all that is necessary to supply human needs4 ,it supplies1 too1 without effort on the part of the recipient4 ,the sun1 with his light and heat1 makes the labor of the farmer successful4 ,the rising ,nile moistening and fertilizing the land1 prepares the way for the sower4 ,the cow draws the plow and the harrow1 and threshes the grain1 but usury makes property bring all needed material good without effort on the part of the owner4 ,it brings him the matured fruits of the farm1 though he neither plows or sows nor reaps4 ,no labor on his part is needed4 ,his property clothes and feeds him1 and yet does not grow less1 but is endowed with perpetual youth1 ever giving yet never exhausted or diminished4 ,he may die1 but his idol knows no decay1 and may continue to bless his children through the generations4 ,this quality of riches makes them a greater source of blessing than the sun or any other object of idolatrous worship4 ,this leads to unlimited self-denial and sacrifice to gain and retain property4 ,the devotees subordinate their own ease and physical comfort1 their own intellectual development1 to secure it1 they will themselves shrivel in body and soul2 like other idolaters they will even yield the highest interests of their children1 when this idol demands their sacrifice4 #f4 ,it destroys spirituality4 ,property is matter and not spirit4 ,with the thought and heart and effort directed to a material thing1 the spirit is neglected4 ,the heathen ,greek artist directed his whole attention to the material part of man4 ,the symmetry of the human physical form was his study4 ,the perfect man was the most symmetrically developed specimen of physical form4 ,his thought of man was matter4 ,the ,christian directs his thought to the spirit1 his mind and heart1 his noble purposes1 and all the qualities of true manhood4 ,the material part is subordinated to the spiritual4 ,the tendency now is to appreciate a man for what he has rather than for what he is1 to ignore both symmetry of form and the graces of the noble character1 and to worship what he holds in his hands4 ,the truly spiritual loves true manhood and is indifferent to the possessions4 ,if a noble soul is found in a ,lazarus1 the true child of ,abraham will take him to his bosom4 ,a perverted manhood will receive no favor though clothed and surrounded with all material splendor4 ,it destroys spirituality1 too1 because it holds the mind to a material thing as the source of all good4 ,the spiritual man rises to the true source of our blessings1 the author of all temporal good1 from whose hand every living thing is fed4 ,this1 as all idolatry1 leads to a breaking away from the restraints of the moral law4 ,the devotion to the material leads1 logically and practically1 to a neglect of the restraints of the spiritual1 and a preponderance of subserviency to the material4 ,practices that will promote the material are indulged though the moral law may be broken4 ,the material is not held subject to the needs of the higher nature1 nor subject to the promotion of the kingdom of ,god1 but man's noblest gifts and the worship of ,god are all made1 if possible1 to minister to the material interests4 ,to break this idol's power1 the true nature of property must be shown4 ,it is not immortal1 but perishable4 ,it can not preserve itself1 but must be carefully preserved by man's own effort4 ,it can not protect him1 but he must protect it4 ,it is but a thing which man has himself made4 ,it must be shown absurd1 as ,isaiah ridiculed it1 ,they worship the work of their own hands1 that which their own fingers have made4 ,other forms of gross external idolatry are exposed by the advancing light of these progressive years1 but this musty old form has taken new life and now receives the service of the race4 ,the whole world is running pell-mell after this idol4 ,it stands in the market places1 it is not a stranger in the courts of justice1 and is in high favor in legislative halls4 ,solon is relegated and ,croesus is elected4 ,it is given a high place in the temple of ,god4 ,pious ,lazarus is neglected but ,dives is promoted4 ,what agreement hath the temple of ,god with idols8 ,until this idol is cast out the church will and must languish4 ,spiritual life will be low and fervor impossible4 ,,chapter ,,xxxii4 ,,ax ,,at ,,root ,,of ,,the ,,tree4 ,it is easier to cut down an evil tree than to climb up and lop off it branches2 besides the branches will grow again if the stock is left undisturbed4 ,it is easier to destroy the mother of vipers than it is to chase after1 catch and kill her poisonous progeny4 ,the reptiles will not become extinct while the mother is left to breed without restraint4 ,there are a large number of industrial and financial evils that derive their strength from usury1 which have received the close attention of benevolent reformers1 but they have not exposed the cause1 nor have they suggested a sufficient remedy4 ,that the evils exist is apparent to them all1 but they seem too high to reach or too swift to be caught4 ,it is only possible to hint at the prevailing evils in one chapter4 ,it would require a volume to discuss them in detail and to apply the remedy4 #a4 ,there is a tendency to divergence in the material and financial conditions of men4 ,some are growing richer1 while others are growing poorer4 ,the prayer of ,agur1 ,give me neither poverty nor riches1 is the prayer we should offer and the prayer we should try ourselves to answer4 ,we are to seek freedom from poverty on the one hand and from ensnaring riches on the other4 ,this is the condition we should try to secure in the community and in the commonwealth4 ,we should discourage excess of riches and we should endeavor to relieve all of distressing poverty4 ,we should hedge about accumulation with such conditions as to make it very difficult to gain great wealth1 and at the same time we should so ease the conditions of accumulation that only gross indolence or great misfortune could cause dependent poverty4 ,the so called middle class are those who neither have great riches nor yet are they in fear of want4 ,the great mass of our people belonged to this class until very recent times4 ,now we find the excessively rich have multiplied and a vast number of our industrious1 honest and virtuous population are struggling for life's necessities4 ,the middle class is less numerous while both those in opulence and those in poverty have been increasing4 ,we should level up and level down to the medium which is best for the development of the highest manhood and best also for the strength and perpetuity of our republican institutions4 ,the rich should be limited in their accretions while the poor are lifted out of their poverty2 but how can this be accomplished without interfering with individual liberty and our personal rights8 ,the problem is not easily solved4 ,while usury remains1 which is an ever active centralizing force adding wealth to wealth1 no remedy can be found4 ,do away with usury1 and the evil is overcome4 7a7 ,when it is recognized that vital energy alone produces all wealth1 no great fortune can be gathered in the life time of one man4 ,the earnings of any life1 however long1 or the earnings of a succession of industrious1 energetic ancestors1 could not amass a fortune to interfere with the rights and activities of others4 ,one may inherit a large fortune from wealthy kindred2 he may discover a fortune2 he may draw a grand prize in a lottery2 he may as a ,turk seize the properties of others and then bribe the courts to confirm his claims2 or a people may be held up by law and one1 selfish and conscienceless as a ghoul1 may jump at the opportunity and appropriate their earnings and their property and yet the robber keep out of the penitentiary2 but no one1 however great his skill or brilliant his genius1 can earn one million dollars1 nor the tenth of it1 in his natural life4 ,to gain one million dollars one must earn twenty thousand dollars each year for fifty years and save it all4 ,he must spend nothing for pleasure nor benevolence4 ,he must spend nothing for food nor for clothes4 7b7 ,wealth decays unless cared for and preserved4 ,as wealth increases1 the task of protecting and preserving it increases4 ,there comes a time when production must cease1 and all energy will be required to preserve that already gained4 ,when others preserve and pay a price for the privilege1 as in usury1 the vital energy can continue production1 indefinitely4 7c7 ,abolish usury and the instant one ceases to produce he begins to consume that which he has earned4 ,he can not live upon the increase of his earnings1 but he must begin at once to diminish the supply4 ,exacting usury he may consume only the increase and preserve the principal untouched4 ,he may not consume all the increase and add the remainder to his capital and thus grow richer in decrepit age4 ,many of those who have not inherited wealth1 have not been wealthy until advanced age4 ,it came to them by the accretions of interest after the productive period of life was past4 7d7 ,it is not possible to secure perfect equality of conditions4 ,if all wealth was equally distributed today differences would begin to appear tomorrow4 ,this has seemed to some disheartening and they abandon all hope of correcting the evil4 ,they should look deeper and promote the natural and ,god-ordained remedy4 ,the natural force for the preservation of the level of the ocean is gravity4 ,but the surface is seldom smooth4 ,the winds lash it into fury and pile high its waves1 but gravity pulling upon every drop of water tends to draw it back to its place and smooth down the surface again4 ,the wind cannot build permanently a mountain of water in the ocean4 ,the consumption and decay of wealth tends unendingly to equalize the conditions of men4 ,in the wild rush of the struggle for supremacy and gain1 like a whirlwind in the affairs of men1 with their diverse gifts and tastes and plans1 there will be inequalities appearing1 but consumption and inevitable decay are ever present leveling powers4 ,usury suspends this beneficent law and aggravates the evil1 making the differences in condition permanent and increasing them4 ,do away with usury and there is a natural limitation to riches4 ,the rich will find that he can not grow constantly richer2 not because he is by statute deprived of any personal rights1 but he is hindered by the natural law embedded in things by the ,creator4 ,do away with usury and the problem of poverty is solved4 ,if we credit vital energy with the increase of wealth and give the laborer all he earns1 he has a fair and equal chance1 and equity requires no more4 ,it is justice and opportunity1 a fair chance1 that the poor need1 not pity and gifts of charity4 #b4 ,great combines of capital in business and especially in industrial trusts are receiving the closest attention of the thoughtful4 ,some regard them as the necessary result of successful and enlarging business4 ,many others regard them as hostile to the public good and are anxiously seeking a means of restraining their great and increasing power4 ,these were at the first associations of manufacturers who co-operated to maintain prices4 ,in the competitive system there is a constant pressure on the part of the consumer for lower prices4 ,the manufacturer who is conscientious and a model employer1 seeking to maintain prices sufficiently high to afford him a profit and living wages for his employes1 must ever be resisting this pressure4 ,they united for this purpose and were benevolent and just in their design4 ,but the manufacturers were paying tribute on borrowed capital4 ,they must meet the demands of interest on their debts and also the wages of their workmen4 ,between these two they struggled to secure for themselves comfortable wages4 ,the capitalists1 seeing the advantage of this co-operation and the resultant profits1 undertook and accomplished the combination of their capital to secure for themselves the profits at first sought for the operators and their employes4 ,these great combines are the natural result of successful business with the practice of usury4 ,they threaten evil4 ,the purpose and plan of the present trust is to increase the increase of the capital2 to make the capital more productive2 to bring larger returns for the wealth invested4 7a7 ,they are not organized for the benefit of the laborer4 ,the object is to decrease the cost by producing with less labor4 ,the less the labor1 other things being equal1 the greater the returns for the capital invested4 7b7 ,they are not organized for the benefit of the consumer4 ,when they do favor the consumer it is only incidental and generally temporary to meet competition4 ,they make no pretence of being benevolent in their purposes4 ,they are organized for the purpose of business gain4 7c7 ,these capitalists combine their interests because they can thereby secure a greater return from their investments than they can by operating separately4 ,they combine that they may mutually increase the rate of interest or dividends on their capital4 ,this is the motive that draws them into coperation4 ,the learned and benevolent statesmen1 teachers of economy and reformers1 have not suggested an adequate remedy4 ,the remedy is not far to find4 ,do away with usury and they will fall apart like balls of sand2 the cohesive power will be gone2 the centralization will cease and the wealth will speedily return to the various individuals from whom it was gathered4 ,this remedy may seem heroic1 but it is a specific and is the simplest of all possible methods4 #c4 ,how to secure a just distribution of the great advantages from improved machinery1 new inventions and new discoveries1 is a problem that is engaging the best thought of many of the wise and good4 ,that the present distribution is inequitable and unfair2 that it gives the capitalist an undue advantage over the laborer2 that it aggravates the difference in conditions1 seems generally admitted4 ,an improved machine1 owned by a capitalist1 enables one man to do the work that formerly required ten4 ,one man is employed and the nine are in competition for his place and there is no advance over the wages before the machine was introduced4 ,the owner of the machine secures the gain4 ,his wealth is greatly increased while the laborer plods on with his old wages4 ,with the new machine the one man produces what ten men did before1 but the product of the nine are credited to the machine and becomes the capitalist's gain4 7a7 ,the falsehood on which this claim rests must be seen and rejected before the evil can be overcome2 that the machine is productive4 ,it is but a tool in the hands of the one man1 who now with it produces as much as ten men did without it4 ,if one does the work of ten he earns the reward of ten4 ,because by this machine he multiplies his strength1 and adds to his efficiency1 he can not justly be deprived of his full reward4 7b7 ,but the machine is owned by another4 ,his not owning the machine does not change its nature and make it a productive force4 ,whether it belongs to him or to another1 it is his intelligent vital energy that produces all that is produced4 ,the machine is but his tool with which he works4 7c7 ,but the machine must be paid for4 ,certainly1 the inventors and skilled mechanics1 who produced this wonderful tool1 should be fully compensated1 but once paid they have no claim upon it or on what another may produce with it4 ,no honest workman objects to paying a good price for good tools4 ,it is not the purchase of tools by one set of workmen of another that causes the unequal conditions4 7d7 ,it is the usurer or interest taker that perverts the conditions4 ,he lays hold of those great inventions and discoveries1 like railroads and telegraphs and telephones1 and demands a perpetual compensation4 ,he asks that the laborer shall be forever buying his tool1 yet it shall be never bought1 that the public shall be forever paying for privileges and the obligation remain forever unmet4 ,this is but one of the forms of usury1 by which wealth is heaped from the earnings of the many4 #d4 ,the difficulties between employers and their laborers do not cease4 ,the continued strikes and lock-outs show how general and deep the trouble is4 ,laborers organize into unions to protect themselves from discharge and to promote their interests4 ,they ask for better wages and shorter hours4 ,they urge their petition with forceful arguments2 they make demands with an implied threat2 they stop work or strike4 ,then follows a test of strength and endurance in which both parties greatly suffer and both are embittered and neither is satisfied4 ,the correction of this common evil has received close study from those who have the welfare of all classes at heart and wish to be benefactors of the race4 ,the remedies have not been thorough but superficial1 and the benefits temporary4 ,the branches have been cut off but they grow again4 7a7 ,the complaint of too small wages implies that more is earned than is received2 but there is no standard recognized by which what a man does earn can be measured4 ,the capitalist claims the output as the earnings of his capital and his claim is allowed by the workmen4 ,the workmen may claim that wages are too small for a comfortable living4 ,this is not a plea of free workmen1 but of slaves begging to be better fed4 7b7 ,they may complain of too many hours of labor2 but the number of hours of labor is arbitrarily fixed4 ,there is no valid constant reason why one should wish to work less4 ,in the management of one's own work1 and the collection of his own earnings1 there are times when long hours1 of the strain of labor1 are necessary1 and there are other times when ease can be taken4 ,with no standard of earnings or time1 it is impossible to arrive at a just and satisfactory settlement4 ,the reasons given sound to the employers like the pleadings of servants for richer food and more play4 7c7 ,the laborer should find a solid basal reason for his demands4 ,that will be found only in the utter rejection of the theory and practice of usury4 ,the selfishness of human nature will remain2 conflicts between men in all conditions and all businesses will remain2 feuds and rivalries will remain2 but when employer and employe are enabled to see that capital is dead1 and decaying1 and that all the earnings above its preservation belong to the laborers1 there will be a recognized and true basis upon which the rightful claims of each can be adjusted4 7d7 ,in a co-operative shop1 where the workmen are the owners1 each receives his share of the gains4 ,with usury done away it is possible for workmen1 who are poor1 to ultimately become the owners1 by the accumulation of earnings1 but under the pull of the usurers1 continually appropriating the earnings1 they are doomed to hopeless poverty4 #e4 ,there is a widespread determination to overcome the evil of war4 ,non-combatants are numerous and peace societies are organized in all lands4 ,their literature is widely distributed and their petitions1 for the preservation of peace1 are poured upon every power that is thought to have an occasion1 or a disposition1 to engage in warfare4 ,the waste of treasure and blood1 the cruelties and suffering that are a military necessity1 are pleaded in favor of peace4 ,the shame of intelligent rational men settling differences with brute force is presented4 ,the unchristian spirit1 that in this age of light and saving grace should be so wanting in brotherly love as to wish to destroy those who harm us1 is deprecated4 ,when differences do arise between nations1 they urge a just settlement or mutual concessions4 ,or if one is found to be unreasonable1 unjust and oppressive1 it is better and more christian-like1 they claim1 to endure hardness1 submitting under protest1 than by force1 which the ,master forbade1 attempt to establish righteousness4 ,rulers of the greatest nations on the earth have become conscious of the cruel burdens upon their people1 in the support of their great armaments4 ,on the invitation of the ,czar of ,russia1 peace commissioners from many nations recently met in ,the ,hague1 to devise means by which the burdens of armaments might be diminished and actual warfare avoided4 ,this peace council advised that differences be submitted to arbitration1 but while it was yet speaking two ,christian powers1 began open war1 without having so decent a regard to the opinions of mankind as to make known to the world the cause of their conflict4 ,wars continue1 and among the most highly civilized and enlightened and christianized1 in the face of the arguments and advice and pleadings of non-combatants and peace societies and peace commissions4 ,mammon1 a sordid greed of gain1 is now on the world's throne and directs the movements of the nations in peace or war4 ,his purposes may be often accomplished in peace by purchases of territory for which interest bearing bonds are issued4 ,the irritation or hurts between peoples may be molified and healed by indemnities1 which also serve his purpose because they necessitate the incurring of a bonded debt1 interest bearing4 ,but the history of the world for centuries proves that a condition of war is ,mammon's opportunity to foist a debt upon a free people and to increase the burden of those whose bonds he already holds4 ,his ears are deaf to advice and reason1 when material and commercial advantages are to be secured4 ,he cares not for human suffering and shed blood1 if riches can be increased4 ,when concessions can be secured1 and mortgages placed1 and a people exploited with profit1 the cry of suffering1 the pleading for pity and the call for justice are all in vain4 ,to stop these modern wars they must be made unprofitable to ,mammon4 ,when they are made to deplete his treasury and to waste his wealth1 instead of increasing it1 he will call a halt in strife1 and the gentle spirit of peace will be permitted to hover over the nations4 ,away with national debts and interest bearing bonds1 which are the delight of the usurers4 ,make present wealth bear the burden of present duty4 ,try the patriotism of the usurers by making war a real sacrifice of their wealth1 while the blood of others is being poured upon the field4 ,do not permit war to be an advantage to the rich to increase his riches4 ,a patriot's life is given and it goes out forever1 let wealth be no more sacred than life2 let it not be borrowed but consumed4 ,let the rich grow poorer as the war goes on1 let there be a facing of utter poverty1 as the patriot faces death on the field4 ,while ,mammon is permitted this usury1 his chief tool1 he will use it for the oppression of the world4 ,he will direct the movements among the nations to further his ends1 although it may require a conflict between the most christianized and enlightened of the earth4 ,the nations will be directed in peace or put in motion in war to make wealth increase4 ,give wealth its true place as a perishable thing1 instead of a productive life1 and wars will cease in all the earth4 ,the holders of the wealth of the world will never urge nor encourage war1 when the property destroyed is their own and not to be replaced4 ,when wars are no longer the usurer's opportunity1 but the consumption of his wealth1 ,mammon himself will beg that swords may be beaten into plow-shares and spears into pruning-hooks4 ,,chapter ,,xxxiii4 ,,per ,,contra2 ,,christian ,,apologists4 ,every argument favoring the continuance of the practice of usury can be met from the propositions established in the preceding chapters4 ,indeed1 there are no true arguments to be presented in its favor4 ,truth is consistent with truth4 ,we are not placed in a dilemma and compelled to decide which are the strongest of the arguments arrayed against each other4 ,we are not deciding which is the greater of two blessings nor which the less of two evils1 but this is a question of evil or good1 of sin or righteousness4 ,if usury is wrong then every argument brought forward to support it is a falsehood1 though it may be covered with a very beautiful and attractive and plausible form in its presentation4 #a4 ,the old ,wilson ,catechism published in ,dundee in #agcg is perhaps the most familiar defense4 ,q4 ,is the gaining of money by usury unlawful8 ,a4 ,yes1 ,prov4 #bh3h4 ,psalm #ae3e4 ,q4 ,what is usury8 ,a4 ,the taking unlawful profit for money that is lent out4 ,q4 ,is it lawful to take any interest or gain for money lent8 ,a4 ,yes1 when it is taken according to the laws of the land1 and from these who make gain by it1 by trading or purchasing of lands2 seeing it is equally just for the owner of money to ask a share of the profit which others make by it1 as for the owner of the land to demand farm from the tenant of it1 money being improvable by art and labor as well as land4 ,q4 ,what is the unlawful profit for money1 which may be called usury8 ,a4 ,the taking profit for money from the poor who borrow for mere necessity1 or taking needful things from them in pawn for it2 or the taking more profit for any than law allows1 as these who take ten1 fifteen1 or twenty in the hundred4 ,exod4 #bb3be1 #bf4 ,deut4 #bd3ab1 #ag4 ,ezek4 #ah3g1 #h4 ,q4 ,but were not the people of ,israel discharged to take any usury or profit for lent money from their brethren8 ,deut4 #bc3ai4 ,a4 ,this law seems to have been peculiar to the ,jewish state1 and that in regard of their estates being so divided1 settled1 and secured to their families by the year jubilee1 and their not being employed in trading or making purchases like other nations1 so that they had no occasion to borrow money but for the present subsistence of their families4 ,but for strangers1 who had another way of living1 the ,israelites were allowed to lend upon usury1 and to share with them in their profits1 ,deut4 #bc3bj1 which shows that the taking of interest is not oppressive in itself2 for they are frequently prohibited to oppress a stranger1 and yet allowed to take usury from him4 ,exod4 #bb3ba1 and #bc3i4 ,the reader will notice that the definition of usury is defective4 ,the reader will also notice that there are no ,scripture references given to prove that any interest can be taken4 ,this is singular1 since throughout the ,catechism ,scripture references are profuse in confirmation of the answers4 ,if a single passage had been found that could be twisted into an approval the reference would have been given4 ,he rests the permission to take usury wholly on human reason1 though in direct opposition to the ,scripture references he had first given to prove that the gaining of wealth by usury was unlawful4 ,he does not claim to get this answer from the ,bible4 ,he rests this answer on the law of the land and the purposes of the borrower1 and says it is not worse than taking a rental for land anyway4 ,the questions with regard to the customs of the people of ,israel are completely met in the ,second and ,third ,chapters of this book4 ,fisher1 also1 we find from his catechism published in #agec1 thought it necessary to make some excuse for the custom in his time4 ,high interest he finds condemned1 but moderate interest he tries to defend4 ,q4 #cb4 ,what is it to take usury1 according to the proper signification of the word8 ,a4 ,it is to take gain1 profit1 or interest1 for the loan of money4 ,q4 #cc4 ,what kind of usury or interest is lawful8 ,a4 ,that which is moderate1 easy1 and no way oppressive4 ,deut4 #bc3bj1 compared with ,ex4 #bb3ba4 ,q4 #cd4 ,how do you prove that moderate usury is lawful8 ,a4 ,from the very light of nature1 which teaches1 that since the borrower proposes to gain by the loan1 the lender should have a reasonable share of his profit1 as a recompense for the use of his money1 which he might otherwise have disposed of to his own advantage4 #a ,cor4 #h3ac4 ,q4 #ce4 ,what is the usury condemned in scripture and by what reason8 ,a4 ,it is the exacting of more interest or gain for the loan of money1 than is settled by universal consent1 and the laws of the land4 ,prov4 #bh3h4 ',he that by usury1 and unjust gain1 increaseth his substance1 shall gather it for him that will pity the poor4' ,q4 #cf4 ,how do you prove from scripture1 that moderate usury1 or common interest1 is not oppression in itself8 ,a4 ,from the express command laid upon the ,israelites not to oppress a stranger1 ,ex4 #bc3i2 and yet their being allowed to take usury from him1 ,deut4 #bc3bj2 which they would not have been permitted to do1 if there had been an intrinsic evil in the thing itself4 ,q4 #cg4 ,is it warrantable to take interest from the poor8 ,a4 ,by no means2 for1 if such as are honest1 and in needy circumstances1 borrow a small sum towards a livelihood1 and repay it in due time1 it is all that can be expected of them2 and therefore the demanding of any profit or interest1 or even taking any of their necessaries of life in pledge1 for the sum1 seems to be plainly contrary to the law of charity4 ,ex4 #bb3be-bh4 ,ps4 #ae3e4 ,q4 #ch4 ,were not the ,israelites forbidden to take usury from their brethren1 whether poor or rich8 ,deut4 #bc3ai3 ',thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother4' ,a4 ,this text is to be restricted to their poor brethren1 as it is explained1 ,ex4 #bb3be1 and ,lev4 #be3ce1 #cf2 or1 if it respects the ,israelites indifferently1 then it is one of the judicial laws peculiar to that people1 and of no binding force now4 ,in the answer to the #cdth question he appeals to the light of nature4 ,that light1 as he interprets it1 may be applied as follows4 ,we follow his language closely and his argument perfectly4 ,from the very light of nature which teaches1 that since the borrower of the hoe purposes to dig his own garden with it1 the lender should have a reasonable amount of his garden dug1 as a recompense for the use of the hoe1 which he might otherwise have used himself to dig his own garden4 ,fisher confirms his conclusion with a ,scripture reference but it is so irrelevant that it would seem ,wilson was wiser in omitting ,scripture reference altogether4 #a ,cor4 #h3ac1 ,wherefore1 if meat make my brother to offend1 ,i will eat no meat while the world standeth1 lest ,i make my brother to offend4 ,the only explanation the writer ever saw or heard of1 that was seriously made was this3 ,if using my brother's money without interest offends him1 then ,i will never while the world standeth accept his money without interest lest ,i make my brother to offend4 ,if this is the intended application then it may be further applied4 ,if using a brother's money at six per cent4 offends him then ,i will surely give him ten per cent4 lest ,i cause my brother offence4 ,could there be a more absurd application of a ,scripture passage8 ,the later theologians have seldom mentioned usury and none have discussed it at any length1 and no divine to our knowledge has undertaken a defence4 ,the ,systematic ,theology of ,dr4 ,charles ,hodge is perhaps the most elaborate and exhaustive4 ,he does not more than refer to usury2 he does not even mention it by name4 ,but in his discussion of the violation of the eighth commandment1 he ridicules the idea that a thing is worth what it is worth to the man who demands it4 ,he says3 ,if this be so1 then if a man perishing from thirst is willing to give his whole estate for a glass of water it is right to exact that price2 or if a man in danger of drowning should offer a thousand dollars for a rope1 we might refuse to throw it to him for a less reward4 ,such conduct every man feels is worthy of execration4 ,he closes the discussion of the eighth commandment with this significant and emphatic sentence3 ,many who have stood well in society and even in the church will be astonished at the last day to find the word ',thieves' written after their names in the great book of judgment4 #b4 ,to prohibit usury is revolutionary4 ,revolutions are not necessarily evil4 ,they have been justified in all the ages to overthrow tyranny and oppression and to secure freedom and establish justice4 ,oppressors and evil-doers in power have ever been anxious to maintain the statu quo3 that is1 to be let alone4 ,the ,man of ,galilee is the prince of revolutionists4 ,he has overthrown and turned down the civilizations of the world and has brought in his own1 called by his name1 ,christian civilization4 ,his followers were revolutionists4 ,the idolatrous craftsmen of ,ephesus1 not wishing to be disturbed in their profitable business1 in order to defeat the work of ,paul and his associates1 raised the cry of revolution4 ,these that have turned the world upside down have come hither also4 ,the things that are wrong side up must be revolved4 ,when material things are found superior to true manhood and womanhood1 they must be reversed4 ,when the works of men's hands are given a place above the hands that formed them1 when the results of labor are given a place above the vital energy of the laborer1 there is call for revolution4 ,but this revolution should be the most peaceful the world ever saw4 ,this need not require the destruction of any property nor the shedding of one drop of blood4 ,it need interfere with no man's rights nor enforce upon any man a burden he should not be willing to bear4 ,a man is not interfering with the rights of another when he is paying his debts1 and a man should not feel that there is placed upon him a burden he is unwilling to carry1 when his own property is returned to him4 ,yet that is the ultimate1 the extreme goal1 to be reached by the abolition of usury2 every man free from debt and every man caring for his own property4 #c4 ,if usury is not permitted1 the great modern enterprises are impossible4 ,a great modern enterprise that is not for the general good has no right to be4 ,splendid enterprises are often made possible by the sacrifice of the welfare of the many for the interests of the few4 ,the splendid plantations of the southern states flourished in time of slavery1 when the labor of many was subordinate to the welfare of one4 ,they are not now possible2 yet the present and future general good is better secured by the sacrifice of the splendid past4 ,a splendid military campaign is only possible by the complete subordination of the many to the will and order of the commanding head4 ,one hundred thousand in an army is now receiving the attention of the world4 ,one hundred thousand in happy homes are commonplace4 ,the pyramids are splendid monuments1 but they were not a blessing to the slaves1 who built them4 ,splendid enterprises in which the few command the many may be an unmitigated curse4 ,ye friends to truth1 ye statesmen who survey ,the rich man's joys increase1 the poor's decay2 ',tis yours to judge1 how wide the limits stand1 ,between a splendid and a happy land4 ,no enterprise1 however brilliant1 can be in the model state1 that blesses the few by the losses of the many4 ,great and benign enterprises are possible without usury4 ,there is no greater enterprise than the postal system in this land and extending to all the nations in the postal union4 ,you owe it nothing2 like poor ,richard1 you pay as you go4 ,it owes nothing1 pays no interest and renders a great service for the small amount you pay4 ,it is a standing illustration of the success of a strictly cash business4 ,the great benevolent missionary enterprises1 that send their messengers to all lands1 over the whole earth1 receive and disburse the gifts of the benevolent4 ,their work is not interrupted1 but continues from age to age4 ,the commerce of the world can be carried on just as effectively without usury4 ,a mortgage does not make a farm more productive nor does a bonded debt make a railroad or a navigation company more efficient4 ,the railroads and express and telegraph and telephone and other enterprises are greatly hindered in the service of the public by the tribute they are returning to the usurers4 ,had this farmer not this mortgage he could improve his farm and bring from his land better results4 ,were it not for the unceasing drain upon the income of great enterprises to meet the interest on bonds1 the properties could be improved and the public better served at greatly reduced rates4 ,indeed the most successful enterprises are now operated by the owners4 #d4 ,it will be hard to borrow1 if you will not pay interest4 ,it would be a happy condition if no one should want to borrow except in urgent need from an accidental strait2 if that old independent1 self-reliant spirit that refused to be indebted to any man could be universal1 that preferred frank and honest poverty in a cabin1 to a sham affluence in a mortgaged palace4 ,it should be hard to borrow1 but easy to pay4 ,usury makes it easy to borrow1 but hard to repay4 ,usurers even make it attractive and entice the victim into the trap of debt and then it is all but impossible to find a way out4 ,an honest1 industrious man of good habits must be ever on the alert or he will be entangled1 sooner or later1 with debts4 ,it will not be harder for an honest man1 who is in need1 to borrow4 ,he will not be able to borrow more than his need requires4 ,the debt will not increase during the period of disability1 and it will be easier to repay without increase4 ,the usurer requires more than honesty for the security of his loan4 ,the loan to him is precious seed1 that must be planted where it will grow4 ,to merely have the loan returned without increase does not meet his claim4 ,to remit the increase1 to make it easier for the poor debtor to pay1 he would regard as a positive loss to himself and a gift to his victim4 ,the usurer prefers rich debtors1 who have abundant property to secure the loan and its increase4 ,there is a despised class of pawn usurers who prey upon the poor4 ,they are regarded as robbers of the poor in their distresses1 but their business would be impossible1 were it not that all avenues of relief are closed by usury2 interest must be paid anywhere2 why not borrow of them though the rates are high8 ,the moral quality of the act is the same2 the difference is wholly in the degree of turpitude4 ,,chapter ,,xxxiv4 ,,per ,,contra2 ,,land ,,rentals4 ,if no interest should be charged on money1 then no rents should be collected4 ,the early ,christian apologists for usury1 who felt it imperative to explain why it was permitted and practiced among ,christians1 found few arguments4 ,they all agreed that the letter and spirit of the ,scriptures forbade lending to the poor1 upon interest4 ,they also found it impossible to show from reason the right of money to an increase1 but as money can readily be changed into other forms of property1 as lands1 they reversed the arguments2 beginning with the assumed premise that it is right to charge rental for lands1 and as money may represent lands1 it is therefore right1 they say1 to charge interest on money4 ,it seems as lawful for a man to receive interest for money1 which another takes pains with1 improves1 but runs the hazard in trade1 as it is to receive rent for our land1 which another takes pains with1 improves1 but runs the hazard of in husbandry4 ,true logic would have led them to reason forward from the truth they had determined2 that there is no valid reason justifying interest on money4 ,resting on this truth1 and then discovering that money may represent lands1 the necessary conclusion must be1 that land rentals are without justice4 ,reversing the order of their argument1 they assumed a false premise1 and from it attempted to prove true the very proposition they had found to be false4 ,there is the usury of lands as well as of money or victuals4 ,forty years ago the ,omaha ,indians went across the river and cut some fine grass growing on open land1 and carried it to their reservation4 ,the owner of the land1 living in a distant state1 learning of this1 claimed pay of the ,indians and brought suit against them before the agent to recover it4 ,the ,indians admitted that they had cut and taken the grass2 they also admitted its value4 ,their defense was that this man had no right superior to theirs4 ,this was a natural growth that had cost him no labor1 and they had not injured the land4 ,their speaker said1 ,if the man had dug the land and planted it in corn and hoed and tended the corn1 the corn would have been his2 but the ,great ,spirit made the grass grow and this man gave it no labor nor care2 the buffalo or the cattle could eat it4 ,have we not the rights of the cattle8 ,this man has no right to it4 ,the agent decided against them and compelled them to pay the man4 ,they were much dissatisfied and felt they were unjustly treated and oppressed1 because they had to pay that which the man had never earned4 ,the red men were not versed in legal statutes nor educated in the tutelage of usury1 but it can not be denied that they interpreted very accurately the law written in the reason and conscience3 that no man has any especial claim to that which he has not earned4 ,the convictions of white men1 and their method of compelling absentee owners to pay for the increase in value of their lands1 came under the writer's observation in a new settlement near the ,indians' reservation4 ,he found three poor families in a district4 ,they had little land and extremely plain homes1 but there was a good school-house and a good school and an expensive bridge had been built across a stream to enable one of the families to reach it4 ,enquiring how they could afford to erect such improvements and support such a school1 they replied that the lands all around them were owned by absentees1 speculators in the east1 who were holding the lands for the advance in value1 which they1 in their struggling poverty1 should make by the improvement of the country1 when they would gather in an unearned increment4 ,they said they had the power to levy taxes for bridges and for schools and they had determined to make the absentees in this way compensate them1 in part1 for the increment they were earning for them4 ,the conviction of right and justice in the white settler did not differ from the innate and untutored argument of the ,indian4 ,the ,indians felt oppressed because they were compelled to pay the man for what that man had never earned4 ,the white settlers determined to thwart the purpose of the absentee owners to gain an increment from their sacrifice and labor4 ,the landlord has a right to all that he has produced4 ,when he has cleared away the forest or broken up the land2 when he has planted the vineyard and builded the winepress1 he has a right to let this out to husbandmen to gather the fruits of his preparation and planting and to share with them in the proportion each has contributed to the production1 but to hold all that he himself has produced and yet claim a part of the product of another1 is usury4 ,a farmer retires from his farm because no longer able or willing to continue its cultivation4 ,he has an undisputed right to a full reward for all his own labor1 and for all he has purchased from others that he leaves in the farm4 ,there must be a compensation for the transformation of the wilderness into a farm at the first1 for the fertility that may have been added to the soil1 for the orchards1 vineyards1 houses1 barns and every improvement he may have made and left on the farm4 ,he has an undisputed right to all the labor remaining in the farm4 ,if he sells he expects compensation for all this4 ,but if he sells1 he must begin at once to consume its price1 unless he becomes a usurer and is supported by the interest4 ,if he does not sell1 but retains his farm1 he must also begin at once to consume the farm4 ,for him to demand of his tenant that the farm shall remain as valuable as when he left it1 the soil not permitted to become less fertile1 the buildings to be kept from decay and restored when destroyed1 the orchards to be kept vigorous and young by the planting of new trees and vines2 in short1 the farm to be preserved in full value and yet pay a rental1 is usury in land4 ,the preservation of a farm or land and its restoration to the owner unimpaired after a term of years involves far more than persons not informed suppose4 ,it seems to them unreasonable to farm a field and only return the unimpaired field to the owner4 ,while land is stable and possibly the most easily preserved of all forms of property1 at least a thief cannot carry it away1 yet the preservation of land involves great care and risk4 ,the taking of any crop from any land reduces its fertility4 ,on the virgin1 western fertile lands the farmers laughed at the thought that they should ever need to return fertilizers1 but it was only a few years until they yearned for the fertility they had extravagantly wasted4 ,buildings inevitably decay and they may be destroyed by fire or storm4 ,orchards may be overturned by a cyclone or be destroyed by blight or by the thousand enemies of the various varieties of fruit trees4 ,the land may be injured by washing that may require years to repair4 ,a single storm has destroyed fields in this way that never can be restored4 ,noxious weeds take possession of land that can only be eradicated by infinite pains4 ,in this state certain weeds are declared outlaws and must be destroyed by the farmer for the protection of his neighbors4 ,the farmer in this locality must have an alert eye for ,canada thistles and oxeye daisy4 ,it often causes more labor to eradicate them than the land is worth on which they are growing4 ,if the annual renter was required to give bond for the return of the farm unimpaired1 returning that which the crops and time must consume and destroy1 taking all risks of every character upon himself1 a thoughtful man1 though poor and needing the opportunity1 would hesitate4 ,it might involve him in an obligation he could not discharge in his whole life through conditions and providences over which he has no control4 ,practically in this country the owner renting a farm from year to year does consume it4 ,it begins at once to decline in fertility1 the improvements begin to fall into decay1 weeds take possession1 washes occur and are not repaired1 and in a few years the half of the value is gone4 ,the owner is fortunate if he has received in rentals sufficient to restore its former value4 ,under a system of perpetual tenantry the case is different4 ,if the fertility declines it is the tenant's loss4 ,the improvements are his and may be sold as one could sell ordinary farm tools1 but not to be removed4 ,if they are impaired or destroyed it does not affect the annual rental4 ,the landed proprietor in city or country1 who has permanent tenants1 who are required to make every improvement and keep up perfectly the fertility1 and who pay an annual rental1 is in the same class as those who are receiving annual interest4 ,the landlord practically holds a perpetual mortgage1 and the rental is the interest or increase exacted generation after generation4 ,the debtor working under a mortgage is cheered by the hope that he may be able1 some day1 to lift it1 but the perpetual tenant on entailed lands knows that he is doomed to hopeless tenantry4 ,he can never own the land and he is in the power of the landlord1 who is often oppressive4 ,calvin1 in his letter of apology for usury of money1 speaks of the injustice of the landlords in requiring a rental for some barren farm and of the harsher conditions imposed upon the tenants4 ,indeed his whole argument1 when summed up1 is1 that the usury of lands is more cruel and oppressive than the usury of money4 ,while it is not yet true in ,america1 yet considering the landlordships of ,ireland and ,great ,britain and the older countries1 with their unremitted exactions1 grinding the life out of their tenants for a mere subsistence1 it is likely that the race is today suffering more from the injustice and oppression of usury of land than from the usury of money4 ,the land question is too large for one short chapter or for one small book4 ,it requires more and deeper study than the subject has ever yet received4 ,the ownership of lands cannot be absolute2 it must be limited by the rights of those who live upon them1 but the limitations have never yet been clearly defined4 ,if a man has a right to live he must have a right to a place to live4 ,if a child has a right to be born it must have a right to a place to be born4 ,it cannot be that the mass of our race only touch the earth by the sufferance of those who claim to own it4 ,the unprecedented rapidity of the development of this country is owing more to its wise and beneficent land laws than to anything else4 ,they are not perfect but the most favorable to the landless that the world has ever known4 ,no landlordism1 no binding up lands by entail to make it forever impossible to gain a title to a portion of the soil1 but our land laws1 wisely devised1 gave hope of a home to the homeless everywhere4 ,the result was that our people from the eastern part of our own country1 and the landless from across the seas1 swarmed over the mountains and filled the ,ohio valley and pushed on to the great ,mississippi and ,missouri valleys1 and in three generations have transformed this waste into happy homes4 ,the possession of land1 of a home1 ennobles the character1 produces a patriotic love of this country and stimulates devotion to her institutions4 ,the landless foreigner who makes here a home of his own is unwavering in his loyalty to the country of his adoption4 ,those foreigners1 who do not fall in love with our institutions and do not become assimilated with our people1 are tenants here as they were before they came here4 ,they are not attached to our soil2 they do not secure homes of their own and are therefore restless and a menace4 ,a dangerous tendency has been developing throughout our whole land in these later years4 ,the usury of lands is on the increase4 ,tenantry is becoming more common on the farms in the country1 while the mass of our city populations are living in rented houses or flats or crowded tenements4 ,the yearning for a home of one's own is deeply imbedded in human nature4 ,to be denied the privilege of living in one's own house is one of the greatest trials of a life4 ,this tendency to tenantry is not because our people have come to care less for a home of their own1 but the conditions are not such as to make a purchase of a home profitable2 the interest on the purchase price is greater than the usury of the land or rental4 ,the natural and desirable state is for every family to own and occupy their home1 and those conditions should be encouraged which make it unprofitable for any one to own real property he does not himself occupy1 and which make it easy and profitable for every family to own their own home4 ,when all lands are owned by those who occupy them1 the prophet ,micah's picture of the millennial dawn will be realized4 ,every man shall sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree and no one shall molest him or make him afraid1 by demanding a rental or by serving a writ of ejectment4 ,,chapter ,,xxxv4 ,,per ,,contra2 ,,political ,,economist4 ,the students of political economy are not always reformers4 ,it is not their purpose nor the object of their studies to transform society4 ,they only endeavor to explain why things are as they are4 ,they find the taking of usury all but universal1 and they endeavor to give the reasons for the prevailing custom4 ,the subject is usually but slightly touched upon and dismissed with a few sentences4 ,few economists claim that interest or rental is a part of the cost of production4 ,they mostly affirm that it is no part of production2 that it is merely the price paid for the opportunity to produce4 ,the lender of money makes a loan to the borrower and thus gives him a better opportunity to produce than he had before4 ,the landlord for the rental withdraws his hand from over his land and gives the renter the opportunity to produce a harvest4 ,in justification1 or at least in explanation of this exaction for an opportunity1 three reasons are usually given4 ,these may be briefly stated as risk1 time and abstinence4 #a4 ,there is some risk in every investment4 ,there is a possibility that the most honest1 industrious and careful debtor may by some misfortune not be able to return the loan and it would therefore be lost4 ,to guard against this the usurer requires the rate of interest to be graded by the measure of risk4 ,this is claimed to be of the nature of insurance1 the borrower paying the premium4 ,the profits of insurance are secured by collecting a larger premium than necessary to pay all losses4 ,on this theory1 the gain of usury is in the excess that can be secured of increase over the amounts lost4 ,this is the reverse of insurance4 ,insurance is the payment by an owner of property to a company who guarantees its preservation4 ,usury is the payment by the company to the owner for the privilege of guaranteeing that he shall not suffer loss4 ,business involves a risk usually covered by insurance1 but no honest man expects to make a profit out of his insurance4 #b4 ,a loan is made for a more or less extended time4 ,time is therefore claimed to be a ground for usury charges4 ,this claim rests on the assumption that time will increase wealth4 ,but time is the great destroyer2 time does not make gardens and farms1 but covers them with weeds and sends them back to a wilderness2 time does not erect a house1 but pulls it down2 time does not build a city1 but causes it to crumble and a few ages buries it under the dust2 time does not incubate eggs1 but turns them putrid2 it does not transform into fowls4 ,if eggs are developed into chickens the difference between eggs and chickens is the reward of the incubator4 ,aside from the spirit of benevolence and sympathy with the needy there are three selfish reasons why a time loan may be made4 ,first1 the owner has no present need of it and wishes to be rid of its care4 ,second1 the owner shall need it at a distant date and he wishes it preserved intact against that time4 ,but these afford no ground for a charge of increase4 ,he who stands and resists the ravages of time until the day it is needed does a positive service and deserves a reward4 ,third1 the lender wishes to appropriate the earnings of another during the period of time given4 ,this is the usurer's reason1 and were it not for this time would lose its importance as an element2 it is certain that long time loans would not be so attractive4 #c4 ,the reward of abstinence is a reward for refraining from consuming one's own wealth4 ,you can not have your cake and eat it4 ,if you do not eat it1 you have your cake1 but not a cake and a half4 ,not a cake and a quarter tomorrow1 dunce1 however abstinent you may be1 only the cake you have1 if the mice do not eat it in the night4--,ruskin4 ,the usual illustration is that of ,jacob4 ,he practiced abstinence in refraining from eating the bowl of pottage and giving it to his hungry brother4 ,the reward of his abstinence was his brother's birthright4 ,if ,i do not take my soup now it is a great favor to have it preserved for me and served later1 not cold and stale1 but fresh and hot4 ,if ,i deny myself now1 for any cause1 ,i can ask no more than that my meal shall be served1 perfectly1 later4 ,this was all that ,jacob could in justice demand of ,esau4 ,it should be remembered1 that because ,jacob took ,esau's birthright1 as a reward of his abstinence1 he was accounted a robber1 was compelled to flee from his home1 and not for twenty years see his father's face2 that the consciousness of this sin and of the merited vengeance of the brother1 whom he thereby defrauded and whom he thought was on his track1 caused that night of struggle when he could not let the angel go1 until he had his promise of deliverance4 ,abstinence1 to be benevolent1 must be an act of personal loving self-sacrifice for another4 ,benevolent abstinence is its own reward and asks no more4 ,abstinence in hope of gain1 denying himself while another is using his wealth1 cannot be regarded as an act of benevolence1 but of a selfish grovelling greed2 more gratified to see his wealth increase than to himself enjoy its use4 ,that is the spirit of the miser and receives the contempt of all right thinking people4 ,that the political economists are right in their analysis of the common thought of usury2 that risk1 time and abstinence are the elements of its basis in the popular mind1 may not be denied1 but if these are in fact the elements1 then usury has no standing in equity and must be condemned by every enlightened conscience4 ,,chapter ,,xxxvi4 ,,usury ,,in ,,history4 ,it would require volumes to fully present the history of usury4 ,a very brief summary must suffice in this place4 ,yet this synopsis may serve as a guide to those who may wish to pursue the investigation further and who have access to any considerable library of general and ecclesiastical history4 ,the exacting of usury has always been more or less practiced1 and there has always been a contention against it as impolitic and wrong4 ,in heathendom the philosophers and economists and common people were usually arrayed against it1 and the voice of christendom has been practically unanimous in its denunciation until the #agth century4 7,for ,history of ,usury in the ,church1 see ,chapter ,x47 ,greece3 ,greece had no laws forbidding usury4 ,the trade in money was left1 like the trade in every thing else1 without legal restraint4 ,the law declared that the usurer should not demand a higher rate than that fixed by the original contract2 it also advised ,let the usury on money be moderate4 ,one per cent4 per month was the usual rate4 ,there were among the ,greeks at various times thoughtful men1 who violently opposed the taking of increase4 ,solon1 of aristocratic blood1 but with strong sympathies for the oppressed classes1 led a ,nehemiah-like reformation4 ,solon was wise and patriotic4 ,his name is a synonym for unselfish devotion to the public good4 ,he was given authority in ,greece in times of great financial distress4 ,debts were increasing4 ,mortgage stones were erected at the borders of each tract of land1 giving the name of the creditor and the amount of his claim4 ,the interest could not be paid4 ,interest taking had concentrated the wealth and power of the state in a few hands4 ,the farmer lost all hope and was only a laborer on the farm he once owned4 ,the debtor who had no farm to work for his creditor was yet in a worse condition2 he was the mere slave of his creditor and could be sold by him4 ,the free farmers were fast disappearing4 ,the most of them were struggling with miserable poverty4 ,solon at once came to the relief of this suffering class4 ,he released those who were enslaved and brought back those who had been sold abroad4 ,the great work of ,solon for this oppressed class has caused his name to be revered by all who have studied the history of his times4 ,plato opposed usury1 but he does not give extended reasons4 ,also the philosopher1 ,aristotle4 ,his name is yet illustrious in the departments of natural and moral science and economics4 ,with regard to usury he said3 ,of all modes of accumulation1 the worst and most unnatural is interest4 ,this is the utmost corruption of artificial degeneracy2 standing in the same relation to commerce that commerce does to economy4 ,by commerce money is perverted from the purpose of exchange to that of gain2 still this gain is occasioned by the mutual transfer of different objects2 but interest1 by transferring merely the same object from one hand to another generates money from money1 and the product thus generated is called offspring 7toxos7 as being precisely the same nature as that from which it proceeds4 ,rome3 ,in the early ages of ,rome there were no laws regulating the loans of money4 ,the practice was common and was one of the most frequent subjects of popular complaint4 ,in the celebrated secession of the lower classes of the people to ,mons ,sacer1 when civil strife and fraternal bloodshed was threatened1 the loudest outcry was against the oppression of exhorbitant interest exacted by wealthy citizens of those who were obliged to borrow4 ,the common rate was twelve per cent4 per annum4 ,this is inferred from the fact that six per cent4 was called half interest and three per cent4 one-fourth interest4 ,the early records of ,rome prove conclusively the odium attached to the business of money-lending for profit4 ,in the codification of laws in the fifth century ,b4,c4 the rate of usury was fixed at one per cent4 per month4 ,this limitation of usury was enacted after a long and bitter contest between the rich lenders and the poorer classes4 ,a compromise seems to have been made in the assigned punishments4 ,the laws for the collection of debts and the punishment of exacting more than the law permitted were alike extremely cruel4 ,the creditors of an insolvent debtor were given the power of cutting his body in pieces and the power of selling his children into slavery4 ,the penalty of taking more than this legal interest was punished with more severity than theft4 ,the thief must restore double1 but the usurer must restore fourfold4 ,this we learn from ,cato's treatise on ,agriculture4 ,cato's own opinion of usury is shown in the answer which he made when he was asked what he thought of usury1 his reply was1 ,what do you think of murder8 ,nearly a hundred years later the ,licinian law forbade all increase4 ,a little later we find the one-half of one per cent4 permitted by law4 ,then under ,sylla the legal rate is made three per cent4 ,in the time of ,antony and ,cleopatra it is four per cent4 ,for a time there was utter confusion and intolerably oppressive rates prevailed4 ,horace1 in his ,satires1 speaks of one lending at sixty per cent4 ,in the reign of ,tiberius ,csar1 ,rome was again shaken with another usury sedition1 an uprising of the people against the usurers4 ,the law was finally adjusted in the ,justinian ,code1 by a compromise permitting six per cent4 and severely restraining the exorbitant rates4 ,three hundred and twenty-three years ,b4,c41 ,livy speaks of a creditor who kept his debtor in irons1 claiming1 besides the debt1 the interest which he exacted with greatest severity4 ,it was soon after decreed that this cruelty should end and that no citizen should be placed in irons or sold into slavery for debt4 ,at the close of the republic the rate was twenty-four per cent4 ,england3 ,in the earliest periods of which we have any records we find that the doctrine1 that letting money to hire was sinful1 prevailed universally over the island of ,great ,britain4 ,it was the prevailing opinion that interest1 or usury1 as it was then called1 was unjust gain1 forbidden by divine law1 and which a good ,christian could neither receive nor pay4 ,in common law the practice of taking increase was classed among the lowest crimes against public morals4 ,so odious was it among ,christians that the practice was confined almost wholly to the ,jews1 who did not exact usury of ,jews but of the ,christians4 ,the laws of ,king ,alfred1 about #ijj ,a4,d41 directed that the effects of money-lenders upon usury should be forfeited to the king1 their lands to the lords under whom they were held1 and they should not be buried in consecrated ground4 ,by the laws of ,edward the ,confessor1 about #ajej ,a4,d41 the usurer forfeited all his property and was declared an outlaw and banished from ,england4 ,in the reign of ,henry ,,ii1 about the close of the twelfth century1 the estates of usurers were forfeited at their death and their children were disinherited4 ,his successor1 ,richard ,i1 was yet more severe1 forbidding the usurers attending his coronation1 nor would he protect them from mob violence4 ,during the thirteenth century the severities against the usurers were not relaxed4 ,king ,john confiscated their gathered wealth without scruple4 ,it is recorded that he exacted an enormous fine of a ,jew in ,bristol for his usuries1 and when the ,jew refused to pay he ordered one of his teeth to be drawn daily until he should pay4 ,the ,jew is said to have endured the pulling of seven1 but then weakened and paid the fine4 ,henry ,,iii was equally harsh and severe in his measures4 ,he exacted all he could and then turned them over to the ,earl of ,cornwall4 ,the one flayed and the other emboweled4 ,it is written in the chronicles of ,england1 #abea ,a4,d41 ,by such usurers and licentious liurs as belong to him1 the realme had alreadie become sore corrupted4 ,in the fourteenth century1 under the three ,edwards1 the taking of interest was an indictable offence and ,edward ,,iii made it a capital crime4 ,in the fifteenth century1 under ,henry ,,vii1 the penalty was fixed at one hundred pounds and the penalty of the church added1 which was excommunication4 ,attorney ,general ,noy1 in the reign of ,james ,i1 thought the taking of money by usury was no better than taking a man's life4 ,he said3 ,usurers are well ranked with murderers4 ,in the sixteenth century1 under ,henry ,,viii1 it was enacted that all interest above ten per cent4 was unlawful4 ,less was not collectable by law1 but was not a punishable offence4 ,edward ,,vi revived the old laws condemning all interest4 ,mary ,i1 next following1 executed these laws with extreme severity4 ,elizabeth restored the laws of ,henry ,,viii1 in which usury less than ten per cent4 was not a punishable offence4 ,this edict of ,elizabeth adds3 ,in the interpretation of the law it shall be largely and strongly construed for the repression of usury4 ,this law of ,henry ,,viii and ,elizabeth1 with the rate of interest reduced1 was the statute law of ,england until #ahed1 when all the usury laws were repealed4 ,in #afid ,william and ,mary ,,ii entered into a contract to secure a permanent loan and pledged the kingdom to pay interest on it forever4 ,the loan marked the turning point in the popular mind with regard to usury4 ,as it was approved in their necessity by the king and queen at the head of the ,protestant world1 ecclesiastics began to shift their ground and to apologize for1 and excuse1 that which had been formerly unequivocably condemned4 ,as the crown was the head of both the church and the state1 the condemnation of usury seemed tinged both with disloyalty and heresy4 ,the courts too began to modify their decisions to bring them into harmony with the action of the crown4 ,the change in the usury laws were not made by enactments of ,parliament1 but by the decisions of courts4 ,the precedents were gradually accumulated and the statutes were merely made to conform to them4 ,,chapter ,,xxxvii4 ,,francis ,,bacon4 ,from the short dissertation on usury found in the works of ,bacon we learn that the taking of usury was a recognized evil and odious in his time4 ,it will be noticed that he eliminates risk from usury and sees that ,in the game of certainties against uncertainties usury is sure to win4 ,it will be noticed also that he mentions only economic arguments against usury4 ,he does not give ethical and moral reasons4 ,he does not mention the want of sympathy for the poor and their oppression4 ,in his statement of the arguments in defence he implies that the usurer is less grasping than the man he knew who said ,the devil take this usury4 ,this is the very opposite of the picture of the usurer given by his contemporary1 ,shakespeare1 in his character1 ,shylock4 ,his specious argument for the regulation of the evil ,for some small matter for the license is familiar to modern reformers in connection with other sins4 ,he speaks of the reduction of the usury rates as a general good and believes ,it will no whit discourage the lender4 ,wrong-doers in all the ages have been ready to part with a portion of the profits of an unlawful business for the cover of the authority of the state4 ,the following is his discussion in full ,,of ,,usury4 ,many have made witty invectives against usury4 ,they say that it is a pity the devil should have ,god's part1 which is the tithe4 ,that the usurer is the greatest ,sabbath breaker1 because his plough goeth every ,sunday4 ,that the usurer is the drone that ,virgil speaketh of3 ,ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent4 ,that the usurer breaketh the first law that was made for mankind after the fall1 which was1 in sudore vultus tui comedes panem tuum2 non in sudore vultus alieni2 7in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread--not in the sweat of another's face47 ,that usurers should have orange-tawney bonnets1 because they do ,judaize4 ,that it is against nature for money to beget money2 and the like4 ,i say only this1 that usury is a concessum propter duritiem cordis2 7a thing allowed by reason of the hardness of men's hearts73 for since there must be borrowing and lending1 and men are so hard of heart as they will not lend freely1 usury must be permitted4 ,some others have made suspicious and cunning propositions of banks1 discovery of men's estates and other inventions4 ,but few have spoken of usury usefully4 ,it is good to set before us the incommodities and the commodities of usury1 that the good may be either weighed out or culled out2 and warily to provide1 that while we make forth to that which is better1 we meet not with that which is worse4 ,the discommodities of usury are1 first1 it makes fewer merchants4 ,for were it not for this lazy trade of usury1 money would not lie still1 but would in great part be employed upon merchandising2 which is the vena porta of wealth in a state4 ,the second1 that it makes poor merchants4 ,for as a farmer can not husband his ground so well if he sit at a great rent1 so the merchant can not drive his trade so well1 if he sit at great usury4 ,the third is incident to the other two2 and that is the decay of customs of kings or states1 which ebb or flow with merchandising4 ,the fourth that it bringeth the wealth or treasure of a realm or state into a few hands4 ,for the usurer being at certainties1 and others at uncertainties1 at the end of the game most of the money will be in the box2 and ever a state flourisheth when wealth is more equally spread4 ,the fifth that it beats down the price of land2 for the employment of money is chiefly either purchasing or merchandising2 and usury waylays both4 ,the sixth1 that it doth dull and damp all industries1 improvements and new inventions1 wherein money would be stirring1 if it were not for this slug4 ,the last1 that it is the canker and ruin of many men's estates2 which in process of time breeds a public poverty4 ,on the other side1 the commodities of usury are1 first1 that howsoever usury in some respect hindereth merchandising1 yet in some other it advanceth it2 for it is certain that the greatest part of trade is driven by young merchants upon borrowing at interest2 so as if the usurer either call in or keep back his money1 there will ensue presently a great stand of trade4 ,the second is1 that were it not for this easy borrowing upon interest1 man's necessities would draw upon them a most sudden undoing2 in that they would be forced to sell their means 7be it lands or goods7 far under foot2 and so1 whereas usury doth but gnaw upon them1 bad markets would swallow them quite up4 ,as for mortgaging or pawning1 it will little mend the matter2 for either men will not take pawns without use2 or if they do1 they will look precisely for the forfeiture4 ,i remember a cruel monied man in the country that would say3 ',the devil take this usury1 it keeps us from forfeitures of mortagages and bonds4' ,the third and last is1 that it is a vanity to conceive that there would be ordinary borrowing without profit2 and it is impossible to conceive the number of inconveniences that would ensue if borrowing be cramped4 ,therefore1 to speak of the abolishing of usury is idle4 ,all states have ever had it1 in one kind or rate1 or other4 ,so as that opinion must be sent to ,utopia4 ,to speak now of the reformation and reiglement of usury2 how the discommodities of it may be best avoided1 and the commodities of it retained4 ,it appears by the balance of commodities and discommodities of usury1 two things are to be reconciled4 ,the one1 that the tooth of usury be grinded that it bite not too much2 the other1 that there be left open a means to invite monied men to lend to the merchants for the continuing and quickening of trade4 ,this can not be done except you introduce two several sorts of usury1 a less and a greater4 ,for if you reduce usury to one low rate it will ease the common borrower1 but the merchant will be to seek for money4 ,and it is to be noted1 that the trade of merchandise1 being the most lucrative1 may bear usury at a good rate3 other contracts not so4 ,to serve both intentions1 the way would be briefly thus3 ,that there be two rates of interest2 the one free and general for all1 the other under license only1 to certain persons and in certain places of merchandising4 ,first1 therefore1 let usury in general be reduced to five in the hundred2 and let that rate be proclaimed free and current2 and1 let the state shut itself out to take any penalty for the same4 ,this will preserve borrowing from any general stop or dryness4 ,this will ease infinite borrowers in the country4 ,this will1 in great part1 raise the price of land1 because land purchased at sixteen years' purchase will yield six in the hundred and somewhat more2 whereas this rate of interest yields but five4 ,this1 by like reason1 will encourage and edge industrious and profitable improvements2 because many will rather venture in that kind than take five in the hundred1 especially having been used to greater profit4 ,secondly1 let there be certain persons licensed to lend to known merchants upon usury at a higher rate2 and let it be with the cautions following3 ,let the rate be1 even with the merchant himself1 somewhat more easy than that he used formerly to pay2 for by that means all borrowers shall have some ease by this reformation1 be he merchant or whosoever4 ,let it be bank or common stock1 but every man be master of his own money4 ,not that ,i altogether mislike banks1 but they will hardly be brooked in regard of certain suspicions4 ,let the state be answered some small matter for the license1 and the rest left to the lender2 for if the abatement be but small1 it will no whit discourage the lender4 ,for he1 for example1 that took before ten or nine in the hundred1 will sooner descend to eight in the hundred than give over his trade in usury1 and go from certain gains to gains of hazard4 ,let these licensed lenders be in number indefinite1 but restrained to certain principal cities and towns of merchandising2 for then they will be hardly able to color other men's monies in the country4 ,so as the license of nine will not suck away the current rate of five2 for no man will lend his monies far off1 nor put them into unknown hands4 ,if it be objected that this doth in a sort authorize usury1 which before was in some places but permissive2 the answer is1 that it is better to mitigate usury by declaration1 than to suffer it to rage by connivance4 7,works of ,francis ,bacon1 ,vol4 #ab1 ,page #bah47 ,,chapter ,,xxxviii4 ,,why ,,this ,,truth ,,was ,,neglected4 ,that we may find the way of return1 we must consider the reasons of our wandering4 ,we must reverse our direction and retrace our steps4 ,these reasons are not occult or hard to find4 #a4 ,the departure had its root in man's depraved nature4 ,the natural tendency is evil1 while the graces must be cultivated with great diligence4 ,evils grow as weeds grow in the garden1 as thorns and thistles and briers cover the untended fields4 ,this evil has not been disturbed by any book exposing its harm for a hundred years1 and it has been two hundred since it was treated as a violation of the ,eighth ,commandment4 ,this evil1 thus left undisturbed1 has flourished and spread over all the world4 #b4 ,two and three hundred years ago the great doctrines were occupying the thought of ,christendom4 ,the doctrines of free grace1 by repentance and an exercise of faith1 were receiving close attention4 ,the creeds of the denominations were being unfolded1 and their defense and proof absorbed the thought of the wise and good4 ,what shall we believe was the question8 #c4 ,other great evils stood before the faces of those who labored for the uplifting of the race4 ,practices attached to the ecclesiastics1 and degrading the organized church1 were flaunted before the eyes of those who stood for true faith and pure living4 ,these were attacked with vigor1 while this evil1 which had been especially the sin of the ,jew1 crept in and entrenched itself4 #d4 ,covetousness is one of those secret sins that may lurk in the heart while there is maintained a fair outward life4 ,few will admit this sin4 ,priests declare that this is the one sin that is never voluntarily confessed4 ,usury is the common outward activity of this inward state1 and when usury was made lawful by the statutes of the realm1 the voice of conscience was silenced4 ,the conscience that would cry out in protest against a rate of interest forbidden by law1 will permit the same rate when the statutes of the state are changed4 #e4 ,early education and natural buoyancy have led the debtors to be less sensitive to the burdens of usury upon them4 ,a large portion of our present arithmetic is taken up with percentage4 ,the position of the student1 in mind1 is that of the creditor4 ,this is presumed in the statements of the problems and lies in the thought of the student in all the calculations4 ,if the statements of propositions and their conclusions were made to place the student on the debtor side1 then the study of percentage would educate him to a horror of this sin4 ,when a loan is made1 the attention of the borrower is seldom called to the rapidity of increase and the dangers of accumulation4 ,if this were done1 and a prompt return of both principal and interest required1 at the end of the term the borrower would soon be alarmed at the hopelessness of permanent gain through debt4 ,peter ,cooper1 it is said1 taught this lesson to a friend who was talking of borrowing for six months at three per cent4 ,we clip the following story3 ,why do you borrow money for so short a time8 ,mr4 ,cooper asked4 ,because the brokers will not negotiate bills for longer4 ,well1 if you wish1 said ,mr4 ,cooper1 ,i will discount your note at that rate for three years4 ,are you in earnest8 asked the would-be borrower4 ,certainly ,i am4 ,i will discount your note for ten thousand dollars for three years at that rate4 ,will you do it8 ,of course ,i will1 said the merchant4 ,very well1 said ,mr4 ,cooper4 ,just sign this note for ten thousand dollars1 payable in three years1 and give me your check for eight hundred dollars1 and the transaction will be complete4 ,but where is the money for me8 asked the astonished merchant4 ,you don't get any money1 was the reply4 ,your interest for thirty-six months at three per cent4 per month amounts to one hundred and eight per cent41 or ten thousand eight hundred dollars4 ,therefore1 your check for eight hundred dollars just makes us even4 ,there has come to this table1 a letter recently sent by a wise uncle to his nephew1 who sought from him his first loan4 ,usually the interest is minimized while the hopeful youth is permitted to indulge his dreams of fancied good1 to be easily gained by a loan4 ,my ,near ,nephew3 ,i enclose a draft for forty dollars with a note for the amount to me1 due in one year at six per cent41 which please sign and return to me4 ,this is probably the first note that you have ever given1 and there are one or two things about a note that maybe you have never discovered4 ,one striking peculiarity is1 that they always come due1 though they are drawn for a year4 ,it may seem a long time1 but when you have a note come due at the end of the year it seems altogether too short and has gone before you are aware of it4 ,another peculiar thing is1 that while interest is a little thing apparently1 yet it never works on the eight-hour system1 but continues steadily through the whole twenty-four1 and through the whole seven days in the week4 ,its about the most industrious animal of my acquaintance1 working nights and ,sundays as well1 and apparently never becoming in the least fatigued1 consequently1 though it appears to be so slow1 still if you do not watch it closely1 the first thing you know you will be astonished at what an amount of work it has accomplished4 ,there are other things equally striking about notes1 but these two are the most important1 and the ones ,i particularly wish to impress on your mind4 ,p4,s4--,don't think from the tone of this that ,i'm not willing to let you have the money4 ,i merely want to impress on you what it means to go in debt4 #f4 ,the evil was not hitherto so much felt4 ,this1 especially1 is true in the ,united ,states4 ,great natural resources1 unclaimed wealth1 made the burden of a small debt unfelt4 ,by appropriating the vast unbroken forests and untilled lands and unopened mines of precious metals1 of coal and iron and gas and oil1 there seemed such evident advantages from the borrowed capital that the evils were unnoticed1 until these natural resources had been appropriated and were held in private hands1 and the opportunities are found to be denied those who have come so closely after4 ,this system made it possible for one generation to grasp a continent2 to grasp all its natural resources and hold them1 and compel tribute from all that came after4 ,taking only a limited and short-time view1 the advantages seemed great and the evils small4 ,but looking at the welfare of the generations its evils might have been clearly discerned4 #g4 ,the evil was never before so great4 ,the vast accumulations of wealth1 so sure to follow the operation of usury1 was hitherto unknown4 ,corporations1 combinations for the handling of great interests1 grasping the natural resources and monopolizing the natural wealth1 gaining franchises covering a monopoly of privileges in transportation1 light and communication by the telephone or telegraph1 are comparatively recent4 #h4 ,the first appearance of indebtedness is a seeming1 but false1 prosperity4 ,the young man who takes possession of a tract of land and then1 with borrowed capital1 improves it1 building his house and his barns and his permanent buildings1 and stocking it with animals that please his taste1 has the appearance of abounding prosperity1 but as the unending grind of usury continues1 these1 he comes to feel1 are but weights to which he is chained1 and in an agony of sweat he is compelled to wear out his life4 ,a city incurring debt is seemingly prosperous4 ,bonds are issued for the erection of attractive public buildings1 for the paving of muddy streets1 for the beautifying of public parks4 ,these bond issues are signs of the prosperity of only one class1 the usurers4 ,the ultimate burden is upon the laborers1 who must pay every bond1 interest and principal4 #i4 ,the opponents of usury have not always been wise4 ,they have indulged in bitter invective rather than solid argument4 ,the language of the fathers1 especially1 was unqualified in severity4 ,when the absurdity and unmitigated evil of usury is seen1 and one feels that adequacy requires superlatives1 it is not easy to restrain language and use mild terms4 ,the divine prohibition was so clear and the effects so oppressive1 especially to the poor1 that it did not appear to the fathers to require argument4 ,the divine authority was not1 therefore1 followed up with the economic basis or reasons for the prohibitions4 ,usury crept in because it was not barred out by the sound reasoning of those who knew its evils4 ,the vituperations were ignored as the rantings of ill-balanced minds4 #aj4 ,like every other wrong1 it feeds upon itself4 ,the very conditions it produces fosters and promotes its growth4 ,at first directing effort and thought along material lines1 ultimately the ideals become groveling4 ,the purposes of a worthy life and the characteristics of a noble manhood are perverted4 ,there comes a wrong idea of true greatness4 ,there arises a false measure of manhood4 ,that measure is wealth1 and of all the grounds of distinction among men1 wealth is the most sordid4 ,success is accumulation of wealth4 ,prosperity is getting rich4 ,whatever else a man may accomplish in life1 if he remains poor he is accounted a failure4 ,yet to this pass1 such a pass1 have we come1 that our national and age characteristic is that of material gain1 commonly called commercialism4 ,this was not the thought of our fathers who subordinated material gain to the development of noble manhood4 ,this is a perversion of our ,american traditions1 and is a menace to better development of the individual and of the state4 #aa4 ,wrong laws mislead the judgment and pervert the conscience4 ,if there is a want of harmony between the moral and statute law when selfish interests are served1 the moral law will be ignored4 ,state laws ease the conscience that would be otherwise troubled4 ,the rate of usury fixed by a state is used as a moral guide4 ,when the legal rate is six per cent4 it is wrong to take eight1 but when the legal rate is ten per cent4 then it is not wrong to take ten4 ,the familiarity of our people with laws recognizing and enforcing interest rates has perverted their ideas of right and justice by substituting the statute for the divine moral law4 ,but state laws can also trouble the conscience that is at ease and be a teacher of righteousness4 ,let the ancient laws forbidding usury be placed upon our statute books and enforced1 and it would not be half a generation till the conscience and reason both approved4 ,nothing in history more shocked the conscience of ,christendom than the compact of ,william and ,mary with usurers in #afid4 ,that was in direct conflict with the teachings and practice of all the ages among ,christians4 ,it has taken two hundred years for courts and states and financial institutions to first dull the ,christian conscience and then secure its approval4 ,the world now awaits the coming of some captain of righteousness1 equal in authority and influence in church and state1 who will organize a return to the faith and practice of the fathers4 ,,chapter ,,xxxix4 ,,crushed ,,truth ,,will ,,rise ,,again4 ,the practice of usury is so general1 and it is apparently so fully approved and sanctioned by many of the most intelligent and virtuous of our people1 that those who believe in its prohibition and are disposed to pessimism may be utterly discouraged4 ,truth must eventually prevail4 ,any custom or system built upon falsehood must sooner or later yield4 ,the house built upon the sand must in time fall4 ,it may be undermined by years of instruction and so gradually give way that the date of its overthrow can hardly be determined1 or it may in its strength be taken in a storm and fall4 ,the whole commercial credit system built on this monstrous falsehood must either crumble or tumble4 ,the prophet ,isaiah was hopeful and happy in the midst of the most unfavorable conditions of corruption and alienation from the truth1 for he was able with his prophetic eye to catch a glimpse of the good time coming1 when righteousness should completely triumph4 ,he shall teach us of ,his ways and we shall walk in ,his steps4 ,with righteousness shall ,he judge the poor4 ,righteousness shall be the girdle of ,his loins4 ,no prophet has fixed a date for the suppression of usury1 yet no intelligent man of faith1 familiar with the reforms of the past1 when as thoroughly entrenched and as giant evils were attacked and overthrown1 need be in despair4 ,we were enslaved by superstitions4 ,haunted houses were numerous and the bewitching of people was frequent4 ,two hundred arrests for witchcraft were made in a single year1 #afib1 and twenty of these persons were put to death4 ,these persecutions were urged and defended by ,cotton ,mather1 a representative of the highest intelligence and culture of the times4 ,his mother was a daughter of ,john ,cotton1 and his father the ,president of ,harvard ,college4 ,now black cats and epilepsy inspire no fear1 and ghost stories do not now terrify and unnerve our children4 ,duelling prevailed among men of honor4 ,public opinion made it compulsory that personal differences between gentlemen should be settled in this way4 ,persons were branded as cowards who would not put their lives in jeopardy4 ,few had the courage to resist4 ,duels were common among the political leaders at ,washington4 ,many a shot rang out at sunrise in the little valley at ,bladensburg1 the noted duelling ground4 ,jackson and ,benton and ,clay and ,de ,witt ,clinton were duellists4 ,after the killing of ,alexander ,hamilton by ,aaron ,burr1 in #ahjd1 the whole country was aroused and an agitation began against the custom1 but it yielded slowly4 ,in #ahch and #ahda there were duels between distinguished congressmen4 ,but now public opinion is so transformed that the honorable and brave duellist is a moral coward4 ,gambling was a common sin4 ,there were lotteries organized for the raising of funds for state and municipal expenses4 ,there were raffles at church fairs to support the ordinances in the sanctuary4 ,the rules of the games were protected by the laws of the state4 ,no one who had lost in a game could recover by law unless he proved that the rules of the game had not been followed4 ,the rules for gambling were regarded as legitimate as the regulations of any business4 ,the gambler was only a law-breaker when he cheated4 ,now gambling is unlawful in every state and territory1 and any newspaper advertising a lottery is shut out of our mails4 ,even an honest gambler is now classed among robbers4 ,intemperance was rampant through the eighteenth century and more than half the nineteenth4 ,whisky was king4 ,through a false physiology it became the almost universal opinion that in the great portion of the ,united ,states the climate required the use of ardent spirit4 ,ministers and all classes of the people were thus deluded1 and almost every person1 adult or child1 was a consumer4 ,upon rising in the morning a glass of liquor must be taken to give an appetite for breakfast4 ,at eleven o'clock the merchant in his counting-room1 the blacksmith at his forge1 the mower in the hay field1 took a dram to give them strength till the ringing of the bell or the sounding of the horn for dinner4 ,in mid-afternoon they drank again4 ,when work for the day was done1 before going to bed1 they quaffed another glass4 ,it was the regular routine of drinking in well-regulated and temperate families4 ,hospitalities began with drinking4 ',what will you take8' was the question of host to visitor4 ,not to accept the proffered hospitality was disrespectful4 ,was there the raising of a meeting house1 there must be hospitality for all the parish3 no lack of liquor2 and when the last timber was in its place a bottle of rum must be broken upon the ridge-place4 ,in winter men drank to keep themselves warm2 in summer to keep themselves cool2 on rainy days to keep out the wet1 and on dry days to keep the body in moisture4 ,friends1 meeting or parting1 drank to perpetuate their friendship4 ,huskers around the corn-stack1 workmen in the field1 master and apprentice in the shop1 passed the brown jug from lip to lip4 ,the lawyer drank before writing his brief or pleading at the bar2 the minister1 while preparing his sermon or before delivering it from the pulpit4 ,at weddings bridegroom1 bride1 groomsman1 and guest quaffed sparkling wines4 ,at funerals minister1 friend1 neighbor1 mourner1 all except the corpse1 drank of the bountiful supply of liquors always provided4 ,not to drink was disrespectful to living and dead1 and depriving themselves of comfort and consolation4 ,in every community there were blear-eyed men with bloated1 haggard faces2 weeping women1 starving children4 7,building of a ,nation4 ,page #bga47 ,while temperate men were grieved at the tide of wretchedness and protested1 they did not think it possible to get on without whisky4 ,dr4 ,prime1 for so many years editor of the ,new ,york ,observer1 told of the meeting of the family physician and the pastor at his father's home in a case of severe illness4 ,when the physician took his leave the pastor followed him into the yard1 where they had a long consultation4 ,the pastor was anxiously seeking advice4 ,three drinks made his head swim1 and the problem was how he could make more than three calls and not become unsteady4 ,the doctor gave directions and ,dr4 ,prime said that neither the minister nor the physician thought of the simple remedy1 not drinking4 ,it has taken two generations1 but the transformation is marvelous4 ,the minister can now call in every home in his parish and never once have an opportunity to drink4 ,if ,rev4 ,john ,pierpont was yet living1 who was put out of his pulpit in ,boston by an ecclesiastical council because he publicly protested against the use of the basement of his church as a storeroom for whisky1 he would see every minister losing his pulpit who would not publicly protest against such a desecration4 ,rev4 ,george ,b4 ,cheever1 the dreamer1 in #ahcj1 woke up the stupid consciences of the fuddled men and women2 he wrote out his dream and published it1 ,deacon ,giles' ,distillery1 and went to jail for it1 but even he never dreamed of the greatness of the temperance reform that has followed4 ,the overthrow of chattel slavery is complete and the human rights of the inferior peoples are recognized4 ,human slavery was of old1 as ancient as history2 it was widespread over the world2 there was an immense and profitable commerce in human flesh2 luxurious wealth and ease was secured by appropriating labor without compensation2 it was thought that the ,scriptures in both ,testaments approved the holding of bondmen2 there was a consciousness of superior gifts2 there was a firm belief that the negroes1 especially1 needed the care of the superior race2 that they were better off and happier than they would be in freedom2 there was a deep-seated race prejudice that remains unyielding till this day4 ,yet the slave trade has ceased1 stopped by armed vessels patroling the seas4 ,the slaves1 eight hundred thousand1 in the ,west ,indies were set free2 the shackles were stricken off by the sword in the ,united ,states2 ,brazil adopted gradual emancipation1 and chattel slavery disappeared forever from the civilized world4 ,the reform battles fought and won are assurances that victory shall also reward those who contend against this sin of usury4 ,there are also other good grounds for confidence4 #a4 ,they are seeking only a return--a reform3 a restoration to a former state2 they are not seeking for the establishment of some new and untried theory1 but they are seeking a return to the faith and conduct of the righteous from the beginning and up seventeen centuries of the ,christian era4 ,the race is but temporarily deflected to the worship of the golden calf4 #b4 ,there is coming forward a great army of intelligent1 virtuous young people4 ,they are made intelligent by our high schools1 seminaries and colleges4 ,they are made students of the ,bible and stimulated in righteousness by ,sunday ,schools1 ,christian ,associations1 ,endeavors1 ,leagues and ,unions4 ,from these there shall rise up defenders of the truth1 free from the burden of debt and unbiassed by life-long association with conditions familiar to those older4 ,the reformers in all ages have been young1 and this reform will be no exception4 ,there is a rashness in youth that needs direction1 but there is also a dash and hope and confidence that is necessary to break away from old customs4 ,one generation of intelligent1 virtuous young people could give this evil its fatal blow4 ,usury cannot flourish among the vicious and the unreliable4 ,other evils may flourish among the idle1 the indolent1 the treacherous1 the deceitful and the dishonest1 but industry and economy and integrity and faithfulness and honor and even ,god-fearing piety are desirable qualities in the usurer's victims4 ,the higher the civilization1 yes ,christian civilization1 the more is produced and the richer the harvest4 ,the usurer has no use for a savage4 ,this worm thrives in the living body and sucks its vitality4 ,it cannot flourish in putrid flesh4 ,let the highest types of our young manhood avoid this sin and its death knell is sounded4 #c4 ,present conditions stimulate an interest in this question4 ,the unequal distribution of the vast wealth now being produced3 the earnings of the many turned into the coffers of a few2 the struggles between the employers and their employees2 organized labor and combinations of wealth2 lead to a closer study of this and allied economic questions than they have ever received before4 ,the solution of these questions will expose the fraud of usury4 #d4 ,the patriotic spirit has not decayed in our people and rulers4 ,they are as strongly attached to our free1 popular institutions as were the patriots of '#gf4 ,there is alarm at the tendency to slip away from the early traditions1 at the centralization of power1 at class legislation4 ,the influence of usury is so strong to promote a favored class and to concentrate power1 that it must be resisted as an enemy to our republican institutions4 ,it gradually undermined and then destroyed the republic of ,venice1 and it is now doing its first work with us4 ,it must soon emerge from its cover4 ,then our people will arouse with their patriotic fervor and fell it with one blow1 and then bury it with the other enemies of the government that have from time to time arisen4 #e4 ,in the studies in sociology there is now a strong current toward ,socialism4 ,there is a desire to preserve the individual's interests and yet a stronger disposition to merge him in the general welfare4 ,there is a conviction that the privileges of individuals have been unduly guarded while the rights of the public were neglected1 that the rights of individuals have received an excess of protection while the welfare of the great mass of the people has been sacrificed4 ,the present problem of the student of sociology is1 ,how can the rights of individuals be adjusted1 yet so as to maintain the superior interests of all the people8 ,this can be accomplished largely1 if not completely1 by the abolition of usury4 ,let the ,government receive on deposit the surplus wealth of the individuals for safe keeping and subject to their orders4 ,let the ,postal ,savings ,bank be established4 ,the ,government is the best possible security4 ,the certificates of deposit would be as good as ,government bonds4 ,they could take the place of the ,national ,bank currency4 ,the ,postal ,department now transfers money and in a manner receives deposits and issues postal notes4 ,these deposits as they accumulated would lift from the people the burden of the interest bearing debt4 ,as they increased the ,government could invest them in public utilities to be operated for the general welfare4 ,the ,government thus caring for the surplus wealth the people are entitled to any benefits that may accrue from its use4 ,all would have an interest in preserving and all would share in the advantages of the property thus cared for by the ,state1 while each would have his individual earnings subject to draft for his personal needs or pleasure4 ,this would preserve the rights of the individual and secure to him perfectly his surplus earnings1 and at the same time the whole people1 through the ,government1 would have the use of this accumulated wealth for its safe-keeping4 ,this will preserve the stimulating incentives of individualism and also gain1 practically1 the blessings of ,socialism4 ,this will be the natural conclusion in the balancing and adjustment of the present sociological discussion4 #f4 ,the prohibition of usury would be to the material advantage of the great mass of our people4 ,it would be a blessing to all1 though it might hinder the material gain of a few1 but the hindered would not be a tithe of our people4 ,it is not easy to forsake the wrong when appetite or passion or selfish interests plead for it4 ,the martyrs who will stand by the right though the heavens fall are not a majority of our people4 ,the paths of righteousness are easy1 broad and smooth1 and crowded with enthusiastic shouters when self-interest can walk hand in hand with a reform4 ,opposition to usury is self-defense to the poor1 the pensioners1 the producers1 and they form a mighty1 irresistible army4 #g4 ,reason remains4 ,the laws of logic have not changed nor has the human mind lost its power of tracing premises to their conclusion4 ,the custom of usury was never reasoned into practice1 but was permitted to creep in while reason was diverted to abstract1 abstruse1 scholastic subjects by those who claimed to be scholars4 ,had the fathers reasoned more about practical subjects1 and scolded less1 this sin would never have appeared in ,christian society and claimed respectability4 ,when the people begin to think and to turn their reasoning powers to this subject1 as light dispels darkness1 this gross error will flee away4 #h4 ,the conscience is yet alert to condemn the wrong and to approve the right4 ,the public conscience was never more tender nor more delicately adjusted1 but it is wanting in intelligence in this matter4 ,the eye cannot see to determine the nature of an object without light1 so the conscience must be enlightened1 or made intelligent by the reason1 to enable it to give a right decision4 ,conscience is the same in all ages among all peoples1 and when informed by investigation and reasoning1 the condemnation of usury will be as unanimous as in the centuries of the past4 ,prayer is also a means to this righteous end4 ,god is still on ,his throne4 ,his ear is not heavy4 ,he hears the cry of the raven and sparrows and lions4 ,he hears the cry of ,his suffering children and will not fail to come to their relief4 ,in all the past1 man's extremity has been ,god's opportunity4 ,relief has come at unexpected times and by ways that were not known4 ,sometimes by means that were insignificant and inadequate in order to show that it was not by human might or power2 sometimes by the faith of one humble believer4 ,this writer has been familiar with the story of ,david and ,goliath from his infancy4 ,to him1 ,mammon1 whose head is usury1 is the giant ,philistine who now stalks forth to defy the armies of the living ,god1 and with a grain of ,david's faith1 he flings this stone4 ,,index ,abstinence1 #bee ,agar--,prayer of1 #bai ,american ,revision1 #hg ,american ,statesman1 #agb ,aristotle1 #acb1 #bei ,average ,interest1 #ace ,bank of ,england1 #ahd1 #aie ,bank of ,venice1 #aic ,bank1 ,first in ,u4,s41 #aih ,banks and ,brokers1 #afa ,bacon1 #ajh1 #ahj1 #bff ,banking1 ,claim for1 #ef ,barriers ,broken ,down1 #de ,borrower1 #fb ,borrowing1 #bda ,benton1 ,thomas ,h41 #aii ,bankruptcy1 #agf ,basil1 #afi ,beza1 #ga ,bible and ,nature1 #ic ,bible ,encyclopedia1 #h1 #ba ,block ,stone1 #aj ,brotherhood--,christian1 #dg ,bush1 ,prof4 ,geo41 #ad ,bureau of ,engraving1 #abc ,capital ,combines1 #bbc ,catechism1 #bcc ,cato1 #bfa ,car ,fares1 #afd ,calvin1 ,institutes of1 #gh ,calvin1 ,letter of1 #gc1 #afb1 #bdh ,calhoun1 ,j4,c41 #aii ,capital ,demands1 #afe ,cretan ,bonds1 #bjd ,chalmers1 #fb ,charlemagne1 #gj ,changed ,conditions1 #ha ,chattel ,slave1 #adg ,character in ,fathers1 #bjf ,cheever1 ,rev4 ,geo41 #bhf ,creeds1 #bgb ,croesus1 #bah ,covetousness1 #fa1 #bad1 #bgc ,cooper ,anecdote1 #bgd ,city ,debts1 #adj1 #afh ,criminal in ,court1 #abg ,coachman1 #aaa ,chrysostom1 #fi ,christ-like ,soul1 #db ,council of ,ten1 #aie ,cyrus1 #cf ,david1 #bf ,debts1 ,discharged1 #fc ,debts1 ,stimulated1 #ach ,debts1 ,church1 #ada ,debts1 ,national1 #adb1 #ahi ,decay1 ,limits1 #acf ,deposit or ,loan1 #aje ,diligence1 #fj ,disciples1 ,practice of1 #eh ,deacon ,giles' ,distillery1 #bhf ,dives1 #bah ,doge1 ,the1 #aid ,dueling1 #bhb ,edward ,,iii1 #bfc ,edward ,,vi1 #bfd ,england1 ,history1 #bfb ,english ,people1 #aib ,elizabeth1 #bfd ,esau's ,abstinence1 #bef ,equality ,impossible1 #bbb ,ethics in ,bible1 #id ,equity ,between ,thieves1 #afj ,exchanges1 #ef ,express ,company1 #aah ,extravagance1 #aee ,ezekiel's ,protests1 #ca ,ezra1 #cf ,family ,economy1 #aed ,farm ,preserved1 #ace1 #bdg ,farm ,consumed1 #bdf ,faithful ,steward1 #aag ,fathers1 ,apostolic1 #fi1 #hj ,fathers1 ,later1 #gj1 #hj ,financial ,slavery1 #aej ,force in ,abstract1 #ii ,fishers' ,catechism1 #bce ,freight ,rates1 #aji ,golden ,book1 #aid ,gambling1 #bhc ,giving1 #ea ,gravity ,levels1 #bbb ,great ,enterprises1 #bci ,greek ,artist1 #baf ,greece1 ,history1 #beh ,guile1 ,taken by1 #ajd ,hebrews in ,egypt1 #bab ,henry ,,ii1 #bfb ,henry ,,iii1 #bfc ,henry ,,vii1 #bfc ,henry ,,viii1 #bfd ,hindoo ,widow1 #bd ,honesty ,hindered1 #baj ,hodge1 ,dr4 ,charles1 #bcg ,home ,wanted1 #bea ,horace1 #bfa ,human ,nature1 #ha ,hume1 #aib ,incorporated ,properties1 #aga ,industry ,discouraged1 #bjg ,indians1 ,omahas1 #bdd ,injustice1 ,submitted1 #abj ,interest ,defined1 #i ,insurance ,company1 #aai1 #bed ,interest1 ,compound1 #ahj ,installment ,plan1 #adj ,intemperance1 #bhc ,jackson1 ,andrew1 #bjj ,jefferson1 ,thos41 #bjj ,jennet1 ,m41 #ahb ,jeremy ,bentham1 #aac ,jeremiah ,protests1 #cj ,jubilee1 ,year of1 #de ,justinian ,code1 #bfa ,king ,alfred1 #bfb ,khedive1 #bjc ,land ,question1 #bdi ,lombards1 #aie ,london ,tenants1 #afi ,luther1 #ga ,macauley1 #aif ,machinery1 ,improved1 #bbf ,mammon1 #bjc1 #bba ,melancthon1 #ga ,messiah's ,character1 #db ,moral ,law1 #hb ,milton1 #ade1 #bjc ,minuits1 ,peter1 #aha ,middle ,classes1 #bbj ,mons ,sacer1 #bfj ,money ,barren1 #hc1 #abb ,moses1 #eg ,mosaic ,laws1 #aa1 #ad ,mc,cullough1 ,sec41 #bja ,nature and ,bible1 #ic ,nehemiah1 #cf1 #dj1 #eg1 #fc ,nile ,worship1 #bad ,obsolete ,words1 #g ,one ,cent ,loaned1 #ahb ,ottoman ,empire1 #bab ,over-production1 #aef ,panics1 #ahg ,paul to ,timothy1 #ei ,paulist ,fathers1 #fe ,pounds1 ,parable of1 #ed ,peel1 ,sir ,robert1 #aif ,physicians' ,charges1 #aae ,poor ,richard1 #bdj ,poor1 ,oppressed1 #aed ,poor1 to the ,spirit1 #dh ,popes1 #gj ,polygamy1 #he ,production1 ,limited1 #aeh ,promoter1 #afa ,prime1 ,dr41 #bhe ,rates1 ,differ ,why1 #ajh ,rentals of ,land1 #bdc ,revolution1 #bch ,ridpath1 #ga ,rich ,fool1 #di1 #acg ,rights1 ,personal1 #ih ,rights1 ,equal1 #ajb ,risk1 #bec ,robe1 #aaa ,rome1 ,history1 #bej ,ruskin1 #gb1 #aef1 #bee ,sands1 ,bishop1 #gj ,sabbath of ,rest1 #he1 #aga ,schaff-,herzog1 #h1 #fi ,scripture ,passages3 ,genesis #ba3bf1 #g ,exodus #cb3a1 #g ,exodus #bb3be1 #ac1 #bj ,leviticus #ai3cc1 #cd1 #ba ,leviticus #bb3bb1 #ai ,leviticus #bc3bc1 #bb ,leviticus #cd3aj1 #bb ,deut4 #e3ad1 #bd ,deut4 #be3ai1 #ag ,deut4 #ae3g-i1 #dd ,numbers #ae3ae1 #af1 #ai ,joshua #i3bc1 #bb ,psalm #ae1 #bf ,psalm #ib1 #g ,psalm #aab3a-c1 #ae ,proverbs #bb3d1 #ae ,proverbs #bh3bj1 #ae1 #bg ,jeremiah #ca3bi1 #cb ,isaiah #aj3ae1 #aja ,ezekiel #bd3ae-ah1 #ca ,ezekiel #bb3g-ab1 #ca ,ezekiel #ah3aag1 #cc ,matthew #e3ag1 #dc ,matthew #f3ab1 #de ,matthew #ac3bb1 #dh ,matthew #ai3bd1 #di ,matthew #be3ad1 #eb ,luke #f3ce1 #dd ,luke #ea3eb1 #ec1 #dg ,luke #ai3ab1 #eb ,john #ae3ab1 #df ,john #ac3cd1 #df ,romans #a3ac1 #g ,romans #ac3h1 #fb ,acts #c3ag1 #g ,acts #b3dd1 #de1 #eh #a ,corinthians #a3bg1 #bh1 #eh #a ,corinthians #ac1 #h ,ephesians #d3bh1 #fj #a ,thess4 #d3ae1 #g #a ,timothy #e3h1 #ei ,james #e3a-f1 #fa ,slaves1 ,happy1 #adh ,slaves1 ,chattel1 #bhf ,self ,reliance1 #baa ,strangers1 ,three ,classes1 #ah ,shoe ,plant1 #abh ,shylock1 #aba1 #aie ,slot ,machines1 #ajd ,solomon and ,usury1 #bg1 #add ,solon1 #bah1 #bei ,socialism1 #bhi ,spirituality ,destroyed1 #baf ,stevens1 ,thadeus1 #bja ,strikes1 #bbg ,sultan1 #bjc ,sun ,worship1 #bad ,superstitions1 #bhb ,taxes ,off the ,poor1 #afh ,tenantry1 #bej ,the ,hague1 #bcj ,talents1 ,parable of1 #eb ,thrift1 #ea1 #bji ,time1 #ajg1 #bed ,temptation to ,upright1 #adi ,timon of ,athens1 #adf ,tools1 ,not ,productive1 #ace ,trade1 ,profits in1 #abd ,trusts1 #ahf1 #bbd ,usury1 ,definition1 #h ,usury and the ,stranger1 #ah ,valet1 #ade ,venice1 #aic ,vienna1 ,council of1 #gj ,war1 ,evils of1 #bbi ,webster1 ,definition1 #i ,wealth ,decays1 #acb ,wealth1 ,barren1 #aca ,william and ,mary1 #aie1 #bfd1 #bgi ,wilson's ,catechism1 #bcc ,wrong ,laws1 #bgi ,young ,reformers1 #ahg ,zaccheus1 #di ,zerubbabel1 #cf ,the ,anti-,usury ,league ,the object1 the purpose and work of the ,anti-,usury ,league is to expose the evils1 the oppressions1 the fraud and the sin of usury or interest1 by publications1 by lectures1 by conventions and by every other practical method4 ,all persons in sympathy with this object1 and who can in any way co-operate by distributing its literature or by other publications or by lecturing or by arranging for lectures or conventions1 are requested to enter into correspondence4 ,also all persons who have become interested by reading the preceding pages and who seek further information and who desire to keep in touch with the work of this ,league should send their names and addresses for enrollment4 ,,the ,,anti-,,usury ,,league1 ,millersburg1 ,ohio4 99 99 99 99 99 ---------------------------------------- ------------------- ,typographical errors corrected in text3 ,page #ci3 coveteousness replaced with covetousness ,page #ed3 ponds replaced with pounds ,page #fa3 ,sabbaoth replaced with ,sabbath ,page #fa3 weap replaced with weep ,page #fd3 bankrupty replaced with bankruptcy ,page #gj3 degredation replaced with degradation ,page #aac3 opportunites replaced with opportunities ,page #aai3 employes replaced with employees ,page #ade3 degredation replaced with degradation ,page #baa3 forbodings replaced with forebodings ,page #bbe3 mutally replaced with mutually ,page #bbh3 neighors replaced with neighbors ,page #bid3 ,dicharged replaced with ,discharged ,page #big3 ,shoff1 ,herzog replaced with ,schaff-,herzog ,page #bii3 ,zacheus replaced with ,zaccheus ---------------------------------------- ------------------- 99 99 99 99 99