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<DATE>2009-06-10</DATE>
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<NAME>Megan Marion</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<BIBNO T="oclc">51617672</BIBNO>
<VID>175223</VID>
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<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>THE EXTORTIONERS AND <HI>Stock-Iobbers, detected.</HI> Or, An Infallible Receipt for the Circulation of Money.</HEAD>
<P>OUR Fore-fathers in former days had &s;o great an Aver&s;ion again&s;t Ex|ce&s;&s;ive U&s;ury, that they look'd upon the U&s;urers as void of all Hu|manity and Chri&s;tianity, and as a Mark of their Di&s;plea&s;ure, would not &s;uffer them to have a Chri&s;tian Burial. It may be of good Service to have &s;ome &s;uch Mark put upon them now, to &s;hew the di&s;like of this Age, who are in a great mea&s;ure undone by them.</P>
<P>The&s;e cruel ill-natur'd Mon&s;ters are the de&s;troyers and devourers of mo&s;t Mens Sub&s;tance, by their unrea&s;onable Dealings and Extorting U&s;uries, pro&s;ecuting their own Covetous and Evil De&s;igns, having no regard to the Laws of God, and breaking through all the Laws of Men, as if they were to give no Account in this World nor the next. But &s;ince the&s;e Catter-pillars have made havock and &s;poil at their own Will and Plea&s;ure, it is high time to inform them, That there are Laws already made as a Scourge for all &s;uch Vermin; there are a great many hone&s;t Engli&s;h-men, that are true Lovers of their King and Country, that will pro&s;ecute the&s;e Offenders, and endeavour to make them &s;en&s;ible of their bold and barefac'd Frauds, that are at this time of day put upon mo&s;t of his Maje&s;ty's good Sub|jects, who are drove to unexpre&s;&s;able Streights and Nece&s;&s;ities, by their Tricks and Contrivances, by keeping the Money and hindering its Currancy, on purpo&s;e to drive the People into great Wants, that thereby they might make the better Markets of them, exacting from them, Five, Ten, Fifteen, and Twenty <HI>per Cent.</HI> be&s;ides lawful Intere&s;t, and not without extraordinary Secu|rity, &s;uch as Plate or Land, by which means Money is become an ab&s;olute Commodity, to almo&s;t the ruin of &s;ome Thou&s;ands of the hone&s;t trading Men in the Kingdom, for they will never lay Moneys out in Goods, when they can by their unlawful Practi&s;es make much more of their Money than by lay|ing it out in Commodities, &s;o that Trade mu&s;t &s;top, and all Bu&s;ine&s;s &s;tand &s;till if the Laws be not put in Execution: In order thereunto you have here a Co|py of an of Parliament, which we heartily wi&s;h may by Authority be com|manded to be read publickly in all the Churches in <HI>England</HI> every <HI>Sunday</HI> in the year, to prevent future Frauds and Extortion.</P>
<Q><TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="Act of Parliament">
<HEAD>An ACT for the Re&s;training the taking of Exce&s;&s;ive U&s;ury, <HI>Anno duodecimo</HI> CAROLI <HI>Secundi Regis, Cap.</HI> XIII.</HEAD>
<P><HI>FOra&s;much as the Abatement of Interest from Ten in the Hundred in former times, hath been found by notable Experience beneficial to the Advancement of Trade, and Improvements of Lands by good Husbandry, with many other con&s;i|derable Advantages to this Nation, e&s;pecially the Reducing of it to nearer Pro|portion with Foreign Statutes with whom we Traffick. And whereas in fre&s;h memo|ry the like Fall from Eight to Six in the Hundred, by a late con&s;tant Practice hath found the like Succe&s;s, to the general Contentment of this Nation, as is vi&s;ibly by &s;e|veral
<PB N="2" REF="2" MS="y">Improvements: And whereas it is the endeavour of &s;ome at pre&s;ent to Reduce it back again in practice to the allowance of the Statute &s;till in force to Eight in the Hundred, to the great di&s;couragement of Ingenuity, and Indu&s;try in Husbandry, Trade and Commerce in this Nation:</HI></P>
<P N="2">II. <HI>Be it for the Rea&s;ons afore&s;aid Enacted by the King's most Excellent Maje|&s;ty, and the Lords and Commons in this pre&s;ent Parliament a&s;&s;embled, That no Per|&s;on or Per&s;ons what&s;oever, from and after the Twenty ninth day of</HI> September <HI>in the Year of our Lord One thou&s;and &s;ix hundred and &s;ixty, upon any Contract &s;hall from and after the &s;aid Twenty ninth of</HI> September, <HI>take directly or indirectly, for Loan of any Moneys, Wares, Merchandi&s;e, or other Commodities what&s;oever, above the value of Six pounds for the forbearance of One hundred pounds for a year, and &s;o after that Rate for a greater or le&s;&s;er Sum, or for a longer or &s;horter time: And that all Bonds, Contracts, and A&s;&s;urances what&s;oever, made after the time afore&s;aid, for payment of any Principal, or Money to be lent, or Covenant to be performed upon or for any &V;&s;ury, whereupon or whereby there &s;hall be re&s;erved or taken above the Rate of Six pounds in the Hundred, as afore&s;aid, &s;hall be utterly void: And that all and every Per&s;on or Per&s;ons what&s;oever, which &s;hall after the time afore&s;aid, upon any Contract to be made, after the &s;aid Twenty ninth day of</HI> September, <HI>take, accept and receive, by way or means of any corrupt Bargain, Loan, Exchange, Chevi&s;aunce, Shift, or Interest of any Wares, Merchandi&s;e, or other thing or things what&s;oever, or by any deceitful way or means, or by any Covin, Engine, or deceitful Conveyance for the forbearing or giving Day of Payment for one whole Year, of and for their Money or other thing, above the Sum of Six pounds, for the forbearing of One hun|dred pounds for a Year, and &s;o after that Rate for a greater or le&s;&s;er Sum, or for a longer or &s;horter Term, &s;hall forfeit and lo&s;e, for every &s;uch offence, the treble value of the Moneys, Wares, Merchandi&s;e, and other things &s;o Lent, Bargained, Sold, Exchanged or Shifted.</HI></P>
<P N="3">III. <HI>And be it further Enacted by the Authority afore&s;aid, That all and every Scri|vener and Scriveners, Broker and Brokers, Solicitor or Solicitors, Driver and Dri|vers of Bargains for Contracts, who &s;hall after the &s;aid Twenty ninth day of</HI> Septem|ber, <HI>take or receive, directly or indirectly, any Sum or Sums of Money, or other Re|ward or Thing, for Brokage, Soliciting, Driving, or Procuring the Loan, or For|bearing any Sum or Sums of Money, over and above the Rate or Value of Five &s;hil|lings for the Loan, or Forbearing of One hundred pound for a year, and &s;o rate|ably, or above Twelve pence for making or renewing of the Bond or Bill for Loan, or Forbearing thereof, or for any Counter-Bond or Bill concerning the &s;ame, &s;hall forfeit for every &s;uch Offence Twenty pounds, and have Impri&s;onment for half a year; The one Moiety of all which Forfeitures to be to the King our Soveraign Lord, his Heirs and Succe&s;&s;ors, and the other Moiey to him or them that will &s;ue for the &s;ame, in the &s;ame County where the &s;ame Offences were committed, and not el&s;ewhere, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, in which no E&s;&s;oign of Law or Pro|tection to be allowed.</HI></P>
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<P>It hath been a Que&s;tion put by tho&s;e that have &s;uffered by Jobbers in Tal|lies and Bank Bills, <HI>Whether this Statute does affect the&s;e unrea&s;onable Practices?</HI> Their be&s;t way to be informed therein, is to advi&s;e with able Coun&s;el.</P>
<P>But by this Act we &s;ee the great Councel and Wi&s;dom of the Nation, in former times, fore-&s;aw and well con&s;idered that the rai&s;ing the Intere&s;t of Money, or leaving to the liberty of the People to value it as they plea&s;e, would not only be a ruin to Ingenuity, Indu&s;try, and Trade, but al&s;o undo the Kingdom; and therefore in their great Wi&s;dom, did &s;et Bounds and Limits, and made this good and whol&s;ome Law, which at this time of day is hoped will &s;ave us from ruin. And certainly the Extortioners and Stock-Jobbers would never have been &s;o impudent, as to put what price they plea&s;e upon Money, if they did
<PB N="3" REF="2" MS="y">not think them&s;elves out of the reach of the Law, or that the Laws, when made, to be of no effect: But time mu&s;t convince them, wherein we hope to &s;ee this Law &s;o well applied, that it will prove a &s;mart Rod for both the Knaves and Fools Backs. Walk but to the <HI>Royal Exchange,</HI> and you will pre&s;ently &s;ee how the Face of Affairs are there altered (occa&s;ion'd only by the&s;e ill-look'd Mon&s;ters) the Bu&s;ine&s;s of the <HI>Exchange</HI> u&s;ed to be &s;elling of Commodities; but now, What price bank Bills ? What Security for Money? Nothing but Plate or Land, at Ten, Fifteen, Twenty, or more <HI>per Cent.</HI> By the&s;e unrea|&s;onable Practi&s;es we plainly &s;ee that this was the true Cau&s;e why the King was not &s;upplied, as we have found by woful Experience. They tell you that Money is of a greater value than ever, and therefore they ought to make the be&s;t of it. Self-intere&s;t may plead for it, but the Notion is notoriou&s;ly fal&s;e: For indeed Money is at no time of any greater value than what the Law hath put upon it; and no Subject dare warrant the taking of more than Six <HI>per Cent.</HI> but is liable to be Indicted upon the Statute of Exce&s;&s;ive U&s;ury. It's true, the King gives a greater Intere&s;t than Six <HI>per Cent.</HI> the Rea&s;on is, to encourage the Subject to &s;peedily &s;upply the Nece&s;&s;ities of the Kingdom, (but not with|out a Law fir&s;t made). The Subject ought to live in &s;ubjection to the Law, and content him&s;elf with Six <HI>per Cent.</HI> until he hath Liberty by Law to do o|therwi&s;e. It's of a dangerous Con&s;equence to &s;uffer the People to take a great|er Intere&s;t for Money than the King gives him&s;elf; for then the Government will never be &s;upplyed, as we have already &s;een. Therefore the Neck of this Roguery mu&s;t be broke, or the Nation undone.</P>
<P>It's no wonder that the&s;e daring Creatures break through all Laws, when they dare &s;pit in the Face of the Law-makers; for if the Parliament makes any Law that prevents their unju&s;t Practi&s;es, they immediately put a mark upon tho&s;e Members. The la&s;t Se&s;&s;ions of Parliament, there were great Debates be|fore the Hou&s;e could &s;ettle the Coin (occa&s;ioned al&s;o by the&s;e Tools). They have al&s;o printed a Li&s;t of all the Members, with a mark upon them that were for lowering the Guinea's and &s;ettling the Silver; not &s;paring to &s;ay in publick, That they were not Friends to the Government. But if there be no Law to puni&s;h them for their open Affronts, in due time the Parliament may make one.</P>
<P>It's very plain that the&s;e Extortioners and Stock-Jobbers never cried up the Ri&s;e of Silver and the Ri&s;e of Gold, that the Kingdom in general might be the better, but that they them&s;elves might have gained extravagant Sums of Money, that had great Ca&s;h by them: And it is al&s;o as plainly &s;een, That the Money being brought to its due weight and &s;tandard, hath had this good ef|fect already, the Exchange from <HI>Holland</HI> being Thirty &s;ix &s;hillings nine pence of our &s;ide, which would not have been, if the Money had been &s;etled as they would have had it.</P>
<P>Indeed, the&s;e &s;urly Creatures do &s;till retain their Anger, and are re&s;olved to have another touch at Parliament to rai&s;e the Guinea's and the Silver, and get a Con&s;ideration for their Clipt Money being &s;till in hopes of obtaining their Ends, have kept up great Sums of Money, which hath been another Rea&s;on that hath ob&s;tructed the Currancy of Money. That they have kept it up appears thus: At the Tenth of <HI>April</HI> Guinea's were to go for no more than Two and twenty &s;hillings, and the Fourth of <HI>May</HI> was Clipt Money to be no more made u&s;e of, &s;o that at that time, we had no Money for currancy, but the old broad Money, and &s;mall parcels of old Mill'd, and in a few days &s;carcely a Guinea to be &s;een, which plainly &s;hews they were very &s;ullen, re&s;olving to keep them up, and not to lo&s;e by them, never reckoning what they had got unlawfully by them.</P>
<P>There is one Rea&s;on more that will convince you in a little time, and that is, If they do apply them&s;elves to the Parliament, the next Se&s;&s;ions, you may then be &s;ure they have kept up the Moneys: and that you may be the bet|ter
<PB N="4" REF="3">&s;atisfied in the truth thereof, the Mon&s;ters &s;hall be de&s;cribed to you; They have many Names, and they are of divers Shapes; &s;ome are old, and &s;ome young; their Haunts will be in the <HI>Court of Request,</HI> or in the <HI>Lobby,</HI> or among the Foot-boys on the Stairs. But if you do not know them by their Shapes, you will certainly know them by their Cry, <HI>Rai&s;e the Guinea's, Rai&s;e the Silver, and allow for Clipt Money, or we are all undone:</HI> (meaning we Extortioners and Stock-Jobbers.)</P>
<P>The <HI>Jews,</HI> who were a cunning and &s;ubtle People, well knew the Di&s;tracti|ons and Di&s;orders that would have befall'n them, if their weight and &s;tand-hard had been corrupted; to prevent which they kept the Shekel of Gold and the Shekel of Silver in the Sanctuary, as &s;acred as the Law of <HI>Mo&s;es;</HI> and they always had regard to the weight of the Shekel in the Sanctuary. From whence we may learn, That if our Laws did not protect and prevent the Corruptions of Coin, Weights in Mea&s;ures, we &s;hould &s;oon be in Confu&s;ion, and &s;hould not know how to deal one with another.</P>
<P>It's demon&s;trably true, That the late Act of Parliament for Punching of all old broad Money, for preventing its being clipt, is very little regarded, which gives a very ju&s;t &s;u&s;picion of the&s;e Extortioners and Stock-Jobbers having a further De&s;ign, and that they will make a great bu&s;tle and &s;truggle to get an al|lowance for the clipt Money, alledging the Country People will all be undone, when indeed mo&s;t of them hath &s;u&s;tained already to lo&s;s. But the De&s;ign mu&s;t be deeper laid: For if the Parliament &s;hould adhere to make an allowance for the clipt Money that is in their hands, then all the old broad Money un|punched, mu&s;t once more come into the Clippers hands, and &s;o the Nation make good another piece of their Roguery.</P>
<P>It's further ob&s;erved, That their barbarous Contrivances in keeping up the Coin of the Kingdom, for the Rea&s;ons before mentioned, hath brought us in|to the&s;e following Evils, That the middle Trading-men of the Nation are in a wor&s;e Condition that the common Beggars; they cannot &s;ell their Commo|dities for Money, nor can they receive their Debts, and all manner of Friend|&s;hip de&s;troyed; and if they go to borrow Money they are laught at, unle&s;s they give them their unrea&s;onable Demands. What mu&s;t the&s;e poor People do? either &s;tarve or beg. Nay, many of the&s;e Mon&s;ters them&s;elves refu&s;e paying their own Debts, making u&s;e of the common Nece&s;&s;itous Cry, <HI>Is this a time to part with Money, or pay Debts?</HI> when the true Rea&s;on is, whil&s;t they keep the People out of their Money, they Trade with it upon uncon&s;cionable U&s;u|ry. Therefore, that they may have a ju&s;t Reward, according to their Merits, it is thought advi&s;able to publi&s;h this following</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="notice">
<HEAD>ADVERTISEMENT.</HEAD>
<P>THIS is to give Notice, That there is a con&s;iderable Di&s;covery already made of great Numbers of the&s;e unrea&s;onable Men, who are deep in the&s;e unwarrantable Practi&s;es, and are to be &s;peedily pro&s;ecuted: Therefore tho&s;e honest Gentlemen, and others that are Lovers of Justice, and their Countries welfare, who have been in the like manner u&s;ed, having been obliged in their Nece&s;&s;ity to give the Extortioners and Stock-Jobbers their unrea&s;onable Demands, If they plea&s;e to meet a <HI>Will</HI>'s Coffee-hou&s;e in the <HI>Court of Reque&s;t</HI> the Twentieth in&s;tant, being the first day of the &s;itting of the Parliament, there they may be informed what proper Methods are to be taken for their Relief.</P>
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<P>LONDON: <HI>Printed for</HI> E. Whitlock <HI>near</HI> Stationers-Hall. <HI>1696.</HI></P>
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