which were really admitted were not openly and avowedly made by a direct change in the statutes, but for the most part they were effected (as so many early reforms) under the cover of ingenious legal fictions. One of the most curious and instructive results of this treatment has been well brought out by Walter Ross in the introduction to his Lectures on the Law of Scotland (1793). He shows, in a very remarkable manner and at considerable length, that “to the devices fallen upon to defeat those laws (i.e. against usury) the greatest part of the deeds now in use both in England and Scotland owe their original forms” (i. 4). One of the consequences of this indirect method of reforming the law was that in some cases the evil was much exaggerated. “The judges,” says Ross, “could not award interest for the money; that would have been contrary to law, a moral evil, and an oppression of the debtor; but, upon the idea of damages and the failure of the debtor in performance, they unmercifully decreed for double the sum borrowed.” He may well remark that imagination itself is incapable of conceiving a higher degree of inconsistency in the affairs of men (compare Blackstone, iii. 434, 435).
In the limits assigned to this article it is impossible to enter further into the history of the question (see also Moneylending), but an attempt may be made to summarize the principal results so far as they bear upon the old controversy, which has again been revived in some quarters, as to the proper relation of law to usury and interest. (1) The opinion of Bentham that the attempt directly to suppress usury (in the modern sense) will only increase the evil is abundantly verified. Mere prohibition under penalties will practically lead to an additional charge as security against risk. The evils must be partly met by the general principles applicable to all contracts (the fitness of the contracting parties, &c.) and partly by provisions for bankruptcy. Peculiar forms of the evil, such as mortgaging to excessive amounts in countries largely occupied by peasant proprietors, may be met by particular measures, as, for example, by forbidding the accumulation of arrears. (2) The attempt to control interest in the commercial sense is both useless and harmful. It is certain to be met by fictitious devices which at the best will cause needless inconvenience to the contracting parties; restraints will be placed on the natural flow of capital, and industry will suffer. (3) In the progress of society borrowing for commercial purposes has gradually become of overwhelming importance compared with borrowing for purposes of necessity, as in earlier times. By far the greater part of the interest now paid in the civilized world is, in the language of the English economists, only a fair reward for risk of loss and for management of capital, and a necessary stimulus to saving.
See Capital and Interest (Eng. trans., 1890), by E. Boehm von Bawerk; Nature of Capital and Income, by Irving Fisher(1906).
(J. S. N.)
UTAH,[1] one of the Central Western states of the United States of America. It lies between latitudes 37° and 42° N. and between longitudes 32° and 37° W. from Washington (i.e. about 109° 1' 34" and 114° 1' 34" respectively W. of Greenwich). The state is bounded wholly by meridians and parallels, and is bordered on the N. by Idaho and Wyoming, on the E. by Wyoming and Colorado, on the S. by Arizona, and on the W. by Nevada. Utah has an area of 84,990 sq. m., of which 2806 sq. m. are water surface, including Great Salt, Utah and other lakes. The state has a maximum length of 345 m. N. and S., and a maximum width of about 280 m. E. and W.
Physical Features.—The eastern portion of Utah consists of high plateaus, and constitutes a part of the Colorado Plateau province. The remaining western portion of the state is lower, belongs in the Great Basin province, and is characterized by north-south mountain ranges separated by desert basins. The high plateaus consist of great blocks of the earth's crust which are separated from each other by fault-lines, and which have been uplifted to different heights. Erosion has developed deep and sometimes broad valleys along the fault-lines and elsewhere, so that many of the blocks and portions of blocks are isolated from their neighbours. As a rule the blocks have not been greatly tilted or deformed, but consist of nearly horizontal layers of sandstone, shales and limestone. In some cases these sedimentary rocks lie deeply buried under lavas poured out by volcanoes long extinct. The plateau summits rise to elevations of 9000, 10,000 and 11,000 ft., are generally forested, but are too difficult of access to be much inhabited. The people live along the streams in the valleys between the plateaus. In the southern part of the state the high plateaus are terminated by a series of giant terraces which descend to the general level of the Grand Canyon Platform in northern Arizona. The terraces represent the out-cropping edges of hard sandstone layers included in the series of plateau sediments, and are named according to the colour of the rock exposed in the south-facing escarpments, the Pink Cliffs (highest), White Cliffs and Vermilion Cliffs. A still lower terrace, terminating in the Shinarump Cliffs, is less conspicuous; but the higher ones afford magnificent scenery. The northernmost member of the high plateaus is a broad east-west trending arch known as the Uinta Mountains. Local glaciation has carved the higher levels of this range into a maze of amphitheatres containing lakes, separated from each other by arêtes and alpine peaks. Among the peaks are King's Peaks (13,498 ft. and 13,496 ft.), the highest points in the state; Mt. Emmons (13,428 ft.); Gilbert Peak (13,422 ft.); Mt. Lovenia (13,250 ft.); and Tokewanna Peak (13,200 ft.). In the south-eastern part of the state are lower desert plateaus, and several mountain groups which do not properly belong to the plateau system. Most interesting among these are the Henry Mountains, formed by the intrusion of molten igneous rock between the layers of sediments, causing the overlying layers to arch up into dome mountains. Stream erosion has dissected these domes far enough to reveal the core of the igneous rock and to give a rugged topography. The highest peaks exceed 11,000 ft. By far the greater part of the high plateau district is drained by the Colorado river and its branches, the most important of which are the Green, Grand and San Juan, portions of whose courses lie in canyons of remarkable grandeur. The western members of the high plateaus drain into the Great Basin for the most part, and in this drainage system the Sevier river is perhaps most prominent. Inasmuch as the streams entering the basin have no outlet to the ocean, their waters disappear by evaporation, either directly from alluvial slopes over which they pass, or from saline lakes occupying depressions between the mountain ranges.
The lower basin portion of Utah is separated from the high plateaus by a series of great fault scarps, by which one descends abruptly to a level of but 5000 or 6000 ft. One of the fault scarps is known as the Hurricane Ledge, and continues as a prominent landmark from a point south of the Grand Canyon in Arizona to the central part of Utah, where it is replaced by other scarps farther east. The floor of the Basin Region is formed of alluvium washed from the high plateaus and mountain ranges, a part of which has accumulated in alluvial fans, and part in the greatly expanded lakes which existed here in the glacial period. This alluvium gives gently sloping or level desert plains, from which isolated mountain ranges rise like islands from the sea. The barren “mud flats,” frequently found on the desert floor, result from the drying up of temporary shallow lakes, or playas. Lake Bonneville is the name given to the most important of the much greater lakes of the glacial period, whose old shore-lines are plainly visible on many mountain slopes. Great Salt Lake (q.v.) is a shrunken remnant of Lake Bonneville. The mountain ranges of the Basin Region are most frequently formed by faulted and tilted blocks of the earth's crust, which have been carved by stream erosion into rugged shapes. Oquirrh, Tintic, Beaver, House and Mineral Mountains are typical examples of these north-south “basin ranges,” which rise abruptly from the desert plains and are themselves partial deserts. The Wasatch Mountain range constitutes the eastern margin of the Great Basin in central and northern Utah, and resembles the true basin ranges in that it is formed by a great block of the earth's crust uptilted along a north-south fault-line. Its steep fault scarp faces west, and rises from 4000 to 6000 ft. above the basin floor; the eastern slope is more gentle, but both slopes are much scored by deep canyons, some of which have been modified in form by ancient glaciers. Among the highest summits are Timpanogos Peak (11,957 ft.), Mt. Nebo (11,887 ft.), Twin Peak (11,563 ft.), and Lone Peak (11,295 ft.). At the western base of the Wasatch are Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo and other smaller towns, situated where streams issue from the mountains, soon to disappear on the desert plains. In such places agriculture is made possible by irrigation, and the Mormon villages, both here and farther south along the base of the Hurricane Ledge, depend largely on this industry. Important mining operations are carried on in the Wasatch Mountains and in a number of the basin ranges. Mercur, Tintic, Bingham and Park City are well-known mining centres.
Fauna.—In the open country the mule deer, the pronghorn antelope and the coyote are found, and the bison formerly ranged over the north-eastern part of the state; the side-striped ground squirrel, Townsend's spermophile, the desert pack-rat and the desert pack-rabbit inhabit the flat country. In the mountainous districts and high plateaus are the grizzly, formerly more common, the black bear, the four-striped chipmunk and the yellow-haired
- ↑ The name is that of a Shoshonean Indian tribe, more commonly called Ute.
