| OCR Text |
Show PAID TO GET "ROTECTION. ' I Orlfjln of "Blackmail" Was In the j Sixteenth Century. Literally, blackmailing means black i rent. In ancient dnys, rent thnt wns paid In moroy was known as white 1 rent, and rent that was paid In kind was known as black. lent, and some- I times as black mall. In the sixteenth century the borderland between Scotland Scot-land and I'higlnnd was In n perpetunl stato of disorder, and tho fanners of tho neighborhood used to pny such rent, or blackmail, to the powerful chieftains, to preserve thnm and their property from molestation. As pub lie opinion began to view border dls cord with disapproval, tho term blackmail black-mail acquired a meaning nkln to that which It now suggests viz., payments pay-ments extorted by Illegal threats. |
