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Show The Interest Question. The brief article iu yesterday 's Herald in regard to the high rates of interest charged here by money lender?, bad the effect of causing soTie of our business men to think, and it is to be hopjd the trouble will be remedied either by the bringing in of money from the States or the lowering low-ering ol the interest by home capitalists. capit-alists. If those who have lnoney to loan will put down the rates, there is not the slightest necessity for the importation im-portation of money. Conversations yesterday with some of the city bankers and other moneyed men confirm our assertions that there is plenty of currency here far ah legitimate legiti-mate business purposes, but the trouble lies in the holders refusing to let it go out of their hands except on the very best of security, (which is perfect!' proper,) and then with the certainty of reaping enormous profits in interest. Ju answer to a,, question propounded propound-ed by a Herald representative yesterday yester-day as to how long the bankrupting rate of 2 per cent, per month interest would be charged in this city, a prominent capitalist said,, "Jmt so long as borrowers are d d fools enough to pay it." And there is where the great secret lies. Lenders will get all they can for the use of their money, and borrowers have by long continu iru'e in the practice, acquired the ;habi$ qf paying the usurious rates demanded. But this should and must change. Of courso people iu the isolated western Terrt-. Terrt-. lories do not expect to obtain the use of money at the same low rates of interest in-terest charged in commercial centres; it would not be justice for . borrowers here to ask money at such figures, for here everything has to be paid for at higher prices than in the great eastern and western market: and besides be-sides the usual securities in the west have a greater fluctuating va'ue, and lack the stability which the, same class have in older counties where "wild catting" have been routed by legitimate ftud long established enterprises, enter-prises, rud the values of property have become more firmly fixed. But here, as el;eviierc, a person has the right to demand that he be not required re-quired to pay more for an article than it is worth, tho commercial law of supply an:', demand, and the comparative compar-ative principle other places and their circumstances being taken into consideration regulating the price. Xo one will claim that in ordinary business enterprises money can ba made to pay 2 per cent, per month; neither will anyone assert that $100 invested in New York, will earn only S3 or 1 per year, while if it were invested in-vested iu Utah it would earn SCI in the same time. We will admit that i the difference between the two places, so far as commercial isivestmenta are concerned, ia very great, but the financial fin-ancial field in this Territory is not six or eight times as good as in New York. Hence, when Xew Yorkers pay $: for what Salt Lakers pay $14, the latter are giving too much. To narrow this wide difference to its proper proportions, the borrowing borrow-ing public call upon lenders to reduce the interest rate: and if they refuse the former class should decline to borrow, when some of the money which is going a begging beg-ging in the great markets would be brought here, and a just reduction thus be forced. |