cannot make it profitable at that rate he will not
borrow it. No greater absurdity stands upon the
statute books of civilized nations than laws compell-
ing men to loan their money for less than it is worth.
They might as well pass laws compelling merchants
to sell their wares for less than their value.
On the statute-books of all enlightened countries, from the days of Shylock to the present time, the usury law has been obsolete, and the idea of foisting such a piece of antiquated nonsense upon the people of California was not to be thought of. They wanted ' no laws regulating the price of the use of money, they said, any more than laws regulating the price of flour or city lots. Men are supposed to know their own business best; one, what he can afford to pay for the use of money, and another what rate of inter- est he can afford to loan it at. There is no more reason for a legislature to pass laws regulating the interest of money, than that it should frame sumptu- ary laws which we all admit would be a step back- ward. At that time particularly, the chief staple of California was the metal of which money was made, and her business men of all others should know that this as well as any other product is liable to fluctua- tions according to the supply and demand.
If the merchant, manufacturer, or miner, can afford to pay high wages and high interest, it shows that the country is so prosperous and his enterprise so profitable that he is justified in paying high for capi- tal and labor. In times of panic or stringency aris- ing from overtrading or extravagance the case is different; but it is not against such contingencies that a usury law aims to provide. The object is to invade a man's private affairs when laissez faire is better. Besides, admitting the existence of an evil, usury laws instead of curing it only aggravate it. In the place of securing the lender a return of his money with the interest agreed on by law, it only forces him to resort to fraud in loaning his money, and by weak-
