The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1895. EXTINCTION OF MONEYLENDERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIII, Issue 10650, 10 May 1895, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY , MAY 10, 1895. EXTINCTION OF MONEYLENDERS.

Ceiticism of the Government 'Adv&ccaa to Settlers Act haa been pretty wall drawn to the dregs, but the Brisbane Courier has contrived to drag into prominence yet another theoretical reason against that measure. We congratulate our Queensland contemporary on the insight .which baa led it to perceive that the tendency of the measure will be to secure a transfer of all the “ giltedged” securities to the Government landing department. This prescience is only remarkable for the contrast it offers to the lack of prevision shown by those Hew Zealand Conservative organa which have persistently maintained that none but the worst of securities would he available for the Government advances. Events are indubitably demonstrating that the Government Lending Board is inclined to accept only first*class.securities. We fear we are unable to follow the Brisbane critic when he declares that this is an act of injustice to mortgagees, and deplores the probable extinction of the private money-lender. We do not see the hardship to mortgagees, unless it is assumed that theirs is the on© particular calling which ought to enjoy a sacred immunity from State interference, in the interests of the community, which would, of course, be absurd. And, as for the extinction of the private money-lender, we can contemplate that possibility without any alarm. Evidence is not wanting that in this and other conntrios the private money-lender is far from being an unmixed blessing,to the community. la a • recentlypublished book, “ The Money-lender Unmasked,” Mr Thomas Farrow describes the workings of the class in the United Kingdom, He points out that there are, -on an average, 9400 bills of ealo registered each yea? in England alone, and the major part of these are given to usurers. “ Their most coveted prey is the email farmer, and many of that class are yearly dragged into their net.” After explaining how some English money-lenders compel their clients to sign bills as payable in Scotland in order to place themselves in a position to take legal proceedings there and “ sail up ” farmers before they are aware of anything having been done, the writer adds: —

It is the poverty of the farmer which produces g.ad sustains tho usurer, juat as •worms are bred m and fattened on putrefying meat. Pally one-third of the sfcraggliag farmers of the parish in which he' reeidea are in his debt for money advanced to fcuy seeds, &c,, for which he charges coat per cent interest. Tho “ Gombeen man ” generally manages to hasp on the safe aide, for ha knows how every one of hia debtors stands, as though he stood up in their own trousers (which eventually he manages to do) ; he known the value of their crops and livo etock, what one gets for his cats at the last market, what another gets for his calves at tho spring market, what another obtained for his calves at the fair, and the mousy which they have received for their sales Se hardly warm in their breeches pockets whan tho usurer dips hia avaricious paw clown. Ho is feared by those in his power and hated by all. Mr Harrow’s conclusions are all in favour of the extinction of the private money-lender. He advocates (1) the abolition of bills of sale ; (2) the licensing of money-lenders; (3) the limitation of the rate of interest chargeable—holding that tho repeal of tho usury laws “ was one of John Bull’s legislative blunders ” ; (4) the strict regulation of preliminary fees ; and (5) the prohibition of the title “ bank ” except to honct fide bankers. Some of these suggested amendments o£ the law have been advocated in Hew Zealand, aad there are others or them that might -well claim tha attention of reformers. The licensing of money-lenders by tho State and the placing of their business under strict supervision are steps that will command themselves to reputable members of the fraternity, who suffer more from the competition of unscrupulous rivals than they are likely to do from G-overnment control. Perhaps, however, the more satisfactory way is to make progress along tho lines of tho Advances to Settlors Act by extending its provisions to all classes of securities, right down to those accepted under the State pawnshop system do beneficially worked in Prance. The private money-lender, like the private liquor-vendor, is bard to control, and in both eases it might be well for the State to assume full responsibility and direct control. There would be no more essential injustice in such a solution of these two problems than there is in the State claiming a monopoly of railway construction.