Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/904

* USUFRUCT. 772 USURY. USUFRUCT (Lat. vsusfriicttis, from nsiis, Mse, from uti, OLat. olti, to use, connected with acere, to crave, Skt. av, to promote, protect, like, Gli. oItos, oitos, fate, portion + fructus, fruit, from frui, to enjoy). At civil law, a life in- terest in property, usually established by legacy, but capable of being established. by contract. It is also created by law, especially in modern civil legislations, many of which give usufruct to par- ents in the property of minor children and to the surviving spouse in the estate of the deceased husband or wife. (See Pabext and Child: Suc- cession: and Testament.) Usufruct is regarded as a servitude (q.v. ), the general right of owner- ship (proprietas) being attributed to the rever- sioner, i.e. the person who is to take the property on the termination of the usufruct. Tlie usufruc- tuary has the exclusive right to possess, use, and enjoy the property, either in person or through a vendee or lessee. He must, however, use it salvCi suhstantiii, i.e. the property must not be injured ; nor may he change the character or mode of use. For the restoration of the prop- erty in unimpaired condition the usufructuary must ordinarily give security to the owner. Usu- fruct may be established not only in land and buildings, but also in 'non-consumptible' mova- bles, i.e. in such movables as can be used with- out impairment of substance. In consumptibles. true usufruct is impossible; but for the purpose of carrying out the intentions of testators the Eoman jurists developed tlie so-called 'quasi-usu- fruct,' in which the property is appraised and the usufructuary gives security that the sum at which it is valued shall be paid, after his death, to the holder of the reversionary interest. USUMACINTA, oo'sn-ma-sen'ta. A river of Central America. It rises in the mountains of Southern Guatemala and flows in a winding northwest course through that conntrj' and Jlex- ico, emptying into the Gulf of Campeche on the boundary between the Mexican States of Cam- peche and Tabasco (Jlap: Central America, B 2). Its length is about 400 miles, and it is navigable a short distance from the sea. In its middle course it forms the boundary between Mexico and Guatemala. Its upper course, which is tlirough a little known forest region, was made by treaty the boundary between the two republics, and a dispute as to which was the main headstream nearly led to a war in 1895. USURY (OF., Fr. iisiirc, from Lat. nstira, use. employment, interest, from vti, to use). Literally, money paid for the use of money, i.e. interest: but in the Middle Ages, when such pay- ments were prohibited, the word obtained an evil sense, and when in modern times the taking of in- terest again became permissible, usurv' acquired its modern meaning, i.e. interest in excess of a fair return, and, particularl.y, in excess of a legally determined maximum. The establishment of such a maximum was general in the ancient world: at Roman law it varied, at dilVcrent pe- riods, from 12 per cent, to 6 per cent. : and when the taking of interest was legalized in the mod- ern world, similar limitations were introduced. In England the act of 37 Henry VIII., c. 9, fixed the limit at 10 per cent. This was repeatedly lowered until, by the act of 12 Anne, c. 16. it was fixed at 5 per cent. By these laws usurious con- tracts were made wholly invalid and usury was an indictable offense. In most European coun- tries (as in the Uoman law) usurious contracts were invalid only as regarded the excess of inter- est, and contracts in which the lender assumed special risks (e.g. bottomry bonds) were not sub- jected to limitation of rate. In the eighteenth century the usury laws were attacked by economic writers as arbitrary and unwise. It was pointed out that in all credit transactions there was an element of risk: that the risk varied greatly and might, in many eases, justify the taking of interest beyond the legal maximum ; and that the effect of usury laws was to impose upon borrowers a higher rate of inter- est than they would otherwise be required to pa.v, in order that the lender might insure himself against the additional risk to which he was sub- jected by the illegality of the contract. In con- sequence of these arguments, limitations upon the rate of interest were generally repealed in the nineteenth century. In England this was done by the act of 17 and 18 Victoria, c. 90. In France, however, the usury laws were repealed only as regarded commercial contracts. Adam Smith defended usury laws because they made it more difficult for spendthrifts to borrow money: and in the latter half of the nine- teenth century, in connection with the general re- action against laissez-faire doctrines, the complete freedom of contract established by the repeal of the usury laws was in its turn condemned by many economists. It was urged that in many cases borrowers were at the mercy of lenders and that they should be protected against extortion of unreasonable interest. This theoretical reaction lias afTected modern European legislation. In Germany, by a law of 1880, "any person who, by exploiting the necessity, the frivolity, or the in- experience of another, causes to be promised to himself or to a third person, for a loan or for de- ferred payment of a debt, pecuniary advantages which so exceed the ordinary rate of interest that under the circumstances they are in striking dis- proportion to the debt," is punished with imp^'is- onment up to six months and fine up to 3000 marks. In England, by an act of Parliament passed in 1900, it is provided that professional money-lenders shall be registered, and that their contracts shall be subject to judicial revision when the rate of interest appears under the circum- stances to be unreasonable. In the United States this latest form of legislation against usury, in which it is left to the courts to determine what is, in each case, a reasonable rate, has not as yet been imitated. In more than one-fourth of the States and Territories (Arizona, California, Colo- rado. Connecticut, Plorida, Maine. Massachusetts, ilontana. Nevada, Rliode Island, L'tah, Washing- ton, Wyoming) the parties may agree upon in- terest above the legal rate. In the remainder of the States and Territories a legal maximum is established for interest on loans and 'forbear- ances' or deferred payments (see table in article Interest), but the legal results of contracting for a higher or usurious rate are very varied. In Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Penn- sylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia the creditor can recover principal and lawful in- terest, losing only the excess. In Kansas his claim is reduced by double the excess. In Alabama,