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Rh which were really admitted were not openly and avowedly made by a direct change in the statutes, but for the most part they were effected (as so many early reforms) under the cover of ingenious legal fictions. One of the most curious and instructive results of this treatment has been well brought out by Walter Ross in the introduction to his Lectures on the Law of Scotland (1793). He shows, in a very remarkable manner and at considerable length, that “to the devices fallen upon to defeat those laws (i.e. against usury) the greatest part of the deeds now in use both in England and Scotland owe their original forms” (i. 4). One of the consequences of this indirect method of reforming the law was that in some cases the evil was much exaggerated. “The judges,” says Ross, “could not award interest for the money; that would have been contrary to law, a moral evil, and an oppression of the debtor; but, upon the idea of damages and the failure of the debtor in performance, they unmercifully decreed for double the sum borrowed.” He may well remark that imagination itself is incapable of conceiving a higher degree of inconsistency in the affairs of men (compare Blackstone, iii. 434, 435).

In the limits assigned to this article it is impossible to enter further into the history of the question (see also ), but an attempt may be made to summarize the principal results so far as they bear upon the old controversy, which has again been revived in some quarters, as to the proper relation of law to usury and interest. (1) The opinion of Bentham that the attempt directly to suppress usury (in the modern sense) will only increase the evil is abundantly verified. Mere prohibition under penalties will practically lead to an additional charge as security against risk. The evils must be partly met by the general principles applicable to all contracts (the fitness of the contracting parties, &c.) and partly by provisions for bankruptcy. Peculiar forms of the evil, such as mortgaging to excessive amounts in countries largely occupied by peasant proprietors, may be met by particular measures, as, for example, by forbidding the accumulation of arrears. (2) The attempt to control interest in the commercial sense is both useless and harmful. It is certain to be met by fictitious devices which at the best will cause needless inconvenience to the contracting parties; restraints will be placed on the natural flow of capital, and industry will suffer. (3) In the progress of society borrowing for commercial purposes has gradually become of overwhelming importance compared with borrowing for purposes of necessity, as in earlier times. By far the greater part of the interest now paid in the civilized world is, in the language of the English economists, only a fair reward for risk of loss and for management of capital, and a necessary stimulus to saving.

 UTAH, one of the Central Western states of the United States of America. It lies between latitudes 37° and 42° N. and between longitudes 32° and 37° W. from Washington (i.e. about 109° 1' 34" and 114° 1' 34" respectively W. of Greenwich). The state is bounded wholly by meridians and parallels, and is bordered on the N. by Idaho and Wyoming, on the E. by Wyoming and Colorado, on the S. by Arizona, and on the W. by Nevada. Utah has an area of 84,990 sq. m., of which 2806 sq. m. are water surface, including Great Salt, Utah and other lakes. The state has a maximum length of 345 m. N. and S., and a maximum width of about 280 m. E. and W.

