USURIOUS INTEREST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81854, 29 September 1906, Page 3

USURIOUS INTEREST.

NATIVES IMPOSED UPON. A STRONG INDICTMENT. THE 11AWERA COMMISSION. In moving in the Legislative Council on Thursday tnatthe evidence taken by Royal Commission on the knding of money at excessive rates to j natives under the West Coast Settlement Reserves Act be laid on the table, the Hon. \Y. F. Carncross sa.d the report stated that rents under the West Coast Settlement Reserves j Act are distributed by the Public Trustee at intervals of six months, and it appears that the rate of interest charged by Mr C. R- Bayley is never less than 50 per cent, per annum, and in eases where the interval between the making of the loan and the payment ot rent is snort, the rate greatly exceeds that. Mr Camcross contended that where an individual end- r charged a native more than 50 per cent., the case was one well worthy of inquiry. (Hear, hear.) In some cases the amount of interest charged was made to exceed 5/ in th'- pound by the device of charg- | ing 11 in the pound at the time the h;an was made and 4; at the time of repayne nt. Thus, if a native wished to borrow £<'->. lie was charged 10 for "writing out documents," receiving £i) io, in cash, and becoming 'iable for £l2, which brought the interest up to 26 G-ioths per cent, for any period not exceeding six months. Where a Royal Commission represented that an individual had been charging Maoris 5, in the p'.und and sometimes more, for the advance of money, it was a case in which they might icasonabiy ask for the evidence to be laid on the tab'c. It would appear that this g'n'-ieman, Mr Bayiev, had a mortgage 1 upon the Maoris. N'o other stop-keeper in the district would give credit, for the simple reason that they were a'ways forestalled i>y Baylev. who, by virtue of the hold he had upon them, seized piacticallv the whole of their rents, and even then the r<n's acciuing were not sufficient to pay what was owing. He was also informed this gentleman was a Justice of the Peace —(lhe Hon. Mi Jcnkinson: Ah, ha! Ah, ha!) —and a licensed Maori interpreter. The motion was agreed to without debate.

The report of Judg f ' Seth Smith the Commissioner r«ferr«»d to, stau\ ; that in or about iN<j4 Mr C. K. B;iy .ey, of Hawna. commenced th«' practice of lending money to natives taking as security an acknowledgment undn tlio hand of and a prombo that the bori.ncr should, \\lu-n he rei'-ived payment of rent fiom tilc Public i'rustee, hand hib chef]U«- to HayVy. This practice he continued d«n\n to t'le present time. | The t-rin< upon which Ualt-y mad'-' 'ho loans to the na'iv<> were that th'..mount *-b«»uld be lvpaid oui of the n«\t instalment of rent paid to the boriowiT by the Public Trusted, to-g<?th-'.T with in'cifst at the rate of 5 in th" pound. If the amount of rent received was than the amount borrowed (with interest) the balance was ticaud as ;i fn-sh ndv.tno 1 , and 5 in th" pound wa- add-

...I. and th- loan vj iiriCiiHil was In 1a- |i.iid <>'i r "1 ilf ii'jxi iiist.ilm l in "f on!. Jud;:- Slnnll "\p!'-"-d 'lie

'.pinion thai th l, trans.u (ions wre U.-UIl»Us. It Mas evident lll.lt tile ai" of a quaiter ol thrir income \\a> >cijttu» iiiau«'i to tli«' natives, .•» ia.ia.U whi-:< tli- in'-ni< - , derived 11l til- rMds of ihe Coast sel-

t.h 111' i l ', in;- b: irow in antic;pa t:fj ti "f ri n'-. most mi itaie (lie acqlliietie ll' ot ll.ila:- .it 'hllt [ . Some nativr nitric- - ,il'<-q. < 1 ih.it th< v.<re '■.'ijniH'l!. <i bco-'. 1 f r *mii lt.iy Icy because a r-k' cper »m <1 n.c i;iv- then) uo.lu. and llvy toiild not io't cash :n pay f"r nv. y.~aiies from

anybody i>ul Bav'.y. On Hie Oiher hand, the *<»n-k"' pens .i;!«n>'cl they had cased to K'.e opdit io native, lyi of th" difficulty of rccoyerinf; payment, money that u"uld b" available for tie payne lit of debt. i;oinir in rt payment of loans to Haylev. A native having "me antieipal<d his rent by loan was unab'r io retrieve his position.

Judj;e Smith ?uwh= three rciii'dir- for this siaie of alTa:ts: I- ir.-l. to prohibit by statute all mnnfy-lend-iPK to nativ.s; fir. second, co limit inter' ?! i in stteh tiansac'ions Doth of these courses b"in« e.i-v of evasion, the Ommissinner -uetrest- ; <s fhe ne 1 - feasible solution that the I'tibiic Trustee sheii'd l.e . I -'I to );iiar.in'"e payment • .-! >b!- incurred bv natives for no-ii'-siti--. and d. dut t the amounts from ionll due to ihr natives.