(????) to nine, and again is down to six per
cent., according to the character of the pa-
per and the rate in other places? Can you
fix the value of money? You may legislate
until you grow as old as Methusaleh, and you
can never possibly fix and maintain in a
fixed condition the value of money. It will
break away from all your restraints. There
is no species of legislation by which you can
tie it down. No human power can tie it
down. The legislation of the world on this
subject never has done any good and never
will do any good. The old constitution, as
it was, did not prevent the taking of seven
per cent., eight, nine, ten, and even twenty-
lour per cent., as I am informed. The con-
stitution never did prevent it; but it made
men go into their closets, to do secretly and
clandestinely that which they were afraid to
do in the open daylight; not because it was
a malum in se, not because there was moral
turpitude in the act, but because the folly
of the age had made that illegal which
never ought to have been made so, for it
had no moral turpitude about it. I have
seen it in my own county, and the gentle-
men from Baltimore city assure you that it is
there the daily practice to pay even eight
and nine per cent. One of the members of
this house, who has been in business there
for a great number of years, told me the
other day that he believer he had never bor-
rowed money there at six per cent.; but that
was about the average, ranging from seven
and eight down to five.
This legislation never does any good and
never will. Let us make one step forward ;
and let us not be stationary in this old beaten
track. The whole world is moving on. It
will do no barm to leave men to make their
own bargains; and that is all we ask. We
do not ask you to put the poor men into the
hands of the rich. You cannot legislate
money out of the pockets of the rich man.
You cannot force him to lend his money at
six per cent. You can say that shall be the
legal rate, but you never can force him to
lend money at that rare. It is absurd. lie
will send it where he can get higher rates of
interest. As the gentleman from Baltimore
county (Mr. Ridgely) has just said, it is like
water, seeking its own level; Wherever the
rate of interest is higher there it will tend,
just as certainly as water tends to run down
hill. That is all we ask. I will withdraw
my amendment. I have no objections to the
amendment of the gentleman from Baltimore
city (Mr. Abbott) or to that of the gentle-
man from Prince George's (Mr. Belt.) They
are simply one a little more advanced than
the other. But let us at least have some
progress in this matter.
Mr. DANIEL. I will try not to occupy the
time of the convention long. As has well
been said, money will command its price,
like any other commodity in the market. If |
our fixing the rate of interest, here would
confine money to that rate, if it would pre-
vent it from ever asking a higher rate, if it
prevented men from being defrauded, there
would be great justice in the plea that money
ought to be fixed as urged by gentlemen here.
But what is the experience of every man who
knows anything of financial arrangements
and business habits, especially in the large
commercial cities? As I stated the other
day, I know of my own knowledge that mo-
ney is loaned every day in Baltimore on
mortgage at from twelve to fifteen per cent.
without any sort of scruple. A man adver-
tises in the paper that he has got $100,000,
and men go to him and ask what he charges
for it; and he will have no more scruple in
telling you twelve or fifteen per cent. than
any other man would have in telling you six
per cent. Gentlemen ask how he will re-
cover that; how the arrangement is made.
1 will tell you how it is done; and I know
what I say to be the fact; and it is known to
the experience of other gentlemen here. The
gentleman says, " money is worth twelve per
cent., and I will lend you money for twelve
percent." He deducts six per cent. as the
premium, or $60 from $1,000, and then takes
a note for $1,000 and takes a mortgage for
security, at six per cent. interest, for the
$940 which he pays. That is done every
day.
Then it is asked whether he can recover the
amount. What is the law upon that subject?
If the man goes into court, it has been de-
cided to be the law of Maryland that, unless
be pleads usury and tenders the amount, the
plaintiff can recover whatever lie has con-
tracted for. As I stated the other day, that
has been decided in a case in Baltimore since
the passage of our last constitution. Unless
the defendant values his character so little,
having gone into market and contracted
fairly to give a certain rate, as to come into
court and plead usury to meanly evade his
obligation—and no man with any respect for
his business character would ever do it—the
plaintiff can recover even fifteen Per Cent.
under his contract. Indeed I recovered eight
per cent. the other day from a man who tried
in every way to evade it, but although be
was a great sharper and skinflint, he had too
much respect for his character in the public
market to plead usury.
There are other ways of doing it. The
court of appeals have decided that you can
buy up paper at any amount you please. A
goes to B, and wants to borrow money of C.
A makes a note to B, payable to B's order.
B is merely a man of straw, a third man.
B indorses it, and offers it to C. if it is a
note of $500, C says " I will give you $400
for that note." B puts his name on it and
passes it over, and the money passes directly
to A. It is all understood between A and C
from the beginning. The court of appeals |
