The Chancellor of the Exchequerrose, pursuant to his notice, for leave to bring in a bill to make perpetual the Act of 1 Victoria, cap. 80, to exempt certain bills of exchange and promissory notes from the operation of the Usury-laws. The right hon. Gentleman said, this was a subject of the greatest importance to the commercial world. By the Act, as it at present stood, all bills not exceeding three months date were exempted from the operation of the Usury-laws. Now, it would be in the recollection of hon. Members, that an attempt had been made about two years ago to extend that exemption to bills of a longer date; and a bill to that effect had passed through this House, but had been lost in another place. During the late commercial difficulties of the country, had it not been for the small relaxation of the Usury-laws to which he had alluded, those difficulties would have been greatly increased. On this account, therefore, he now proposed to extend the exemption from the Usury-laws to bills of twelve months' date, and also to re-affirm the original proposition of making the Act perpetual. Although he asked only for this limited remission, yet, had he consulted his own feelings, he would hare given the fullest benefit he could to the commercial world by a total repeal of those laws, for he thought there ought to be as free a trade in money as in any other article.
Mr. Prymeexpressed his regret that his right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, did not propose to bring in a bill for the total repeal of the Usury-laws. He was sure it would give great satisfaction to the commercial world.
§ Mr. Warburtonfully concurred in the principal of the right hon. Gentlemen's motion. It was, he had no doubt, the general feeling of the commercial world, that the whole of the Usury-laws should be done away with. If such a measure had been in operation during the late commercial crisis, many houses which had sunk and been ruined under that pressure, would have been saved, and be now in a sound and flourishing condition.
The Chancellor of the Exchequersaid, that he would, most willingly, introduce a measure for the total abolition of the Usury-laws, but he was afraid that in doing so he should be risking the good which he expecting from a partial abolition, and he would rather make sure of that then risk the whole.—Leave given.
§ Bill brought in and read a first time.