Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/251

USURY UTAH 231 in the absence of agreement ; in New Hamp- shire, New York, North Carolina, and Tennes- see, the whole contract is avoided by a reser- vation or agreement for more than the legal rate. Regarding these as extremes, in much the greater number the penalty for usury lies between them. In some states the legal rate takes effect when there is no agreement, but the parties may agree for more up to a certain definite limit. There are many ways in which the usury laws may be evaded, and courts watch contracts liable to this abuse with great strictness. Some principles may be gathered from the adjudications, which may be regard- ed as prevalent, if not universal. Thus, to constitute usury, there must be substantially a loan, and a usurious intent in both parties, in one to give and in the other to take usurious interest. But the contract need not be, in form, a loan ; and whether it is so in fact is a question for a jury. Property may be sold for whatever price the parties agree upon ; but if the sale be in fact a mere cover for the usury, it does not protect it. Negotiable paper may be sold like other paper. The cases on this subject are numerous, nice, and perhaps con- flicting ; but it may be stated as a general rule, that if it is in fact the promissor who sells, and the buyer buys even through an agent, but with knowledge that he buys of the promissor, it is in fact and in law a loan from the buyer, and may therefore be usurious. Even if a stat- ute declares a usurious contract " void " in the most emphatic language, the law looks upon it rather as "voidable;" and therefore no one can make the objection of usury but the bor- rower and the parties in privity of interest and contract with him. So, if one borrows stock, agreeing to replace it with the dividends re- ceived in the mean time, or if he agrees to re- place it, or the money it sells for, with interest on its value, the contract is not usurious ; but if the lender retains an option to take either the dividends or interest, it is usurious. If a note be given usuriously in payment of or as security for a preexisting debt, and the note is void by the usury laws, the original debt re- mains unaffected. As there must be usurious intent, if illegal interest is taken by a miscal- culation or other mistake in fact, it is not usu- ry ; but it is usury if the mistake be one of law, because every person is held to know the law. If the lender takes upon himself an extra risk (apart from that of the borrower's insol- vency), he may charge extra interest. Bot- tomry and respondentia contracts are founded on this principle, because if the ship or goods are lost, the debt is not demandable. The same principle is applied to the purchase of an annuity, and even to the bargain of the borrower that if he does not repay the princi- pal when due with legal interest, he will pay a certain penalty, because he has the power of avoiding this penalty by payment of interest. If a borrower on repaying the money make the lender a gift, it is usurious if the gift be in per- formance of a previous promise, but not other- wise. Discount of interest, whereby the lend- er gets interest on his interest, or interest on money which he never lends, and calculations of interest by Rowlett's tables, which consider the year as consisting of Only 360 days (but qualify the error by casting the fractions on the right side), are now established usages, and do not make the contract usurious, espe- cially if it is of a kind that is usually subjected to this usage, as are bank discounts. Wher- ever usury is forbidden, a bargain for com- pound interest would not be enforced. But it is common for courts to order a settlement of accounts with annual rests, which is equiva- lent to compound interest. This is especially done where trustees have used the money of their ceatuy que trust. UTAH, a territory of the United States, situ- ated between lat. 37 and 42 N., and Ion. 109 and 114 W. ; general length N. and S., about 350 m. ; general breadth, about 260 m. ; area, 84,476 eq. m. It is bounded N. by Idaho and Wyoming, E. by Wyoming and Colorado, S. by Arizona, and W. by Nevada. It is divi- ded into 20 counties, viz. : Beaver, Box Elder, Cache, Davis, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, Mor- gan, Piute, Eich, Salt Lake, San Pete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Utah, Wahsatch, Washington, Weber. Salt Lake City (pop. in 1870, 12,854) is the capital and largest city. The principal other places are Ogden (pop. 3,127), Provo (2,384), Morgan City (1,972), Logan (1,757), Spanish Fork (1,450), Mount Pleasant (1,346), Brigham City (1,315), Nephi City (1,286), Manti (1,239), Beaver City (1,207), Ephraim City (1,167), and Tooele City, Fillmore, Corinne City, Heber City, and Willard City, with more than 500 inhabitants each. The population of the territory, according to the United States censuses, has been as follows : in 1850, 11,380, including 24 free colored persons and 26 slaves ; in 1860, 40,273, including 30 free colored per- sons, 29 slaves, and 89 Indians; in 1870, 86,- 786, including 118 colored persons, 445 Chi- nese; and 179 Indians. The tribal Indians (not enumerated in the census) numbered 1,040 in 1875, including 650 Uintah Utes on a reser- vation of 2,039,040 acres in the N. E. corner of the territory, together with 134 Pah Yants and 256 Goship Utes not under an agent. Of the total population in 1870, 56,084 were na- tives of the United States and 30,702 foreign born, 44,121 males and 42,665 females. Of the natives, 41,426 were born in the terri- tory, . 2,247 in New York, 2,105 in Illinois, 1,492 in Iowa, 1,315 in Pennsylvania, 1,133 in Ohio, and 908 in Missouri ; and there were persons living in the territory born in every other state and nearly every territory. Of the foreigners, 20,772 were natives of the Brit- ish isles, including 16,073 English, 502 Irish, 2,391 Scotch, and 1,783 Welsh; 4,957 of Den- mark, 1,790 of Sweden, 687 of British Amer- ica, 613 of Norway, and 509 of Switzerland. There were 15,344 males and 15,072 females