The Sunday Oregonian., January 21, 1912, SECTION FIVE, Page 5, Image 59

TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, rORTXAND, JANUARY 21, 1912.
r
CITY LENDS MONEY AND
BANISHES LOAN SHARKS
Kansas City'a Experiment With Municipal Loan Agency Not Only Believes
Victims From Unscrupulous Dealers but Is Financial Success.
Every Day Is Dividend
at the Morgan-AtcMey
Day
Store
I J I!
y5tMKiT CAT A0 MT
I-ANSAS CITT. Jan. 10. (Special.)
Six years ago Kanau City w
' loan shark infested city. It was
:eemlng with unscrupulous agents who
preyed upon men and women of salary.
Tasting aside all regard for the law,
the economic parasites competed
openly with each other to get the
greatest number of clients, or victims,'
Into their clutches. They were not
content with exacting a moderate
pound of flesh by collecting 10 per cent
a month Interest from those forced to
borrow from them, but gouged out 150
ri even ISO per cent a year.
The Jack Rabbit justice courts of the
city were In league with the loan
sharks. They aided the money lend
ers In every instance In which they
needed at least a semblance of legality
to force their collections. These petty
tribunals Issued attachments and gar
nishment proceedings, so that th
t; earner found his salary tied up
r taken away from him entirely and
In many Instances lost his Job In the
bar train. Employers did not cars to
have on their payrolls men or women
who were in debt to such conscience
lens asrents.
Conditions soon became so Intolera
ble In the city that a newspaper (the
Kansas City titar) put a man to work
investigating these conditions. The
result was a series of "stories' that
showed how unfortunate men and
women salary workers were being
hounded and persecuted by the sharks.
Publicity was the only thing that
touched there. It drove clients away
from their offices, broke the spell of
fear that led many to keep on paying
hen the original debt had already
been paid many times. Their offices
bad been in Kansas City. Mo for the
most part snd when It finally became
i"o hot for the loan agents here, they
ld across the Imaginary state line into
Kansas City. Kan.
In diminished numbers they contin
ued to ply their business from there,
But the loan sharks were never en
tirely dislodged. Like a good many
other publicity campaigns, when the
people had begun to forget the things
they bad learned from the newspaper
that taught them, clients began to re
turn to the money lenders. They be
gan again to get a strong hold on
thousands of city tollers.
But while there were formerly 25
loan sharks operating In the two Kan
sas Cities, there are now only six. Two
of the largest and heretofore most
prosperous of these agencies closed
their doors In the last year and went
out of business. A good many of
these remaining ones are on their last
business legs and soon must follow
suit. This time It was not a publicity
campaign that made the sharks quit
entirely. It mas the Municipal Loan
Agency.
City la Lradlaar Money.
Kansas City Itself has gone Into the
business of lending money. It does so
In direct competition with the loan
sharks. Instead of charring the
usurious rates of Interest ranging from
1 ;o to ISO per cent a year, however,
the city does business on an honeat
basis. It lends money practically at
cost and beata the loan sharks at their
own game.
Kansas City Is the only municipal
ity In the United States that has a loan
agency which the city atands sponsor
for. It la a department of the Board
of Welfare, whose business It Is to look
after th paroling of prisoners from
the city's houses of correction, to con
duct the Free Legal Aid Bureau and
do other things that really are other
stories.
One of the first to point out the need
of a. municipal loan agency In Kansas
City and to show how It might be oper
ated, was Jacob Blllikopf. a member of
the Board of Welfare and managing
director of the United Jewish Charities
In the city. lie wrote a letter to the
board and told the members that:
Cheap Stoaey Ureateat eed.
"Cheap money for the poor has been
the greatest need In Kansas City for
years. Many families exist without a
msrgln for savings. Sicknesa or a
death In such fsmlies reduces them to
actual want.- With a city loan shop
such eases can be Investigated and a
loan made at a low rate of interest."
His plan did not then include the
announcement that war waa thus be
ing declsrcd on the loan sharks, but
the members of the board saw that
they were also delivering thousands
from their clutches. The plan was
adopted. When the city was confront
ed with the expediency of going Into
business, a man stepped In and volun
teered to furnish all the capital that
was required to conduct the loan
agency. This man was William Volker.
head of one of the largest wholesale
houses In the West, a man of pro
nounced philanthropic motives, who is
widely known for tils deep Interest in
the welfare of humanity. Mr. Volker
was accepted. The loan agency was
organised and he has put in up to date
$17. S00, which haa been the working
capital of the agency since Its start.
November 1. 1S10.
The headquarters of the agency are
In an office building, where the city
leases space. The office Is In charge
of O. ji. Carman, manager. Mr. Car
man has Just finished going over the
books for the year that the agency
has now been in business. lie finds
that total of 1204 loans have been
made to as many deserving persons
and that the amount of money lent out
has been $57,0(4.25. The rates of in
terest range from 1 to 3 per rent a
month as compared with the 150 and
10 per cent exacted by the loan
sharks. "The saving In Interest alone
to the people of Kansas City haa
amounted in the first year of our busi
ness to 118,500," says Mr. Carman.
Lea as TSmt Indlarrtmlnate.
Money Is not lent Indiscriminately,
persons who apply to the municipal
agency must show why they want to
borrow and what they want to do with
the money. The object is to discour
age persons from seeking aid except
they are actually In distress for It.
Death, sickness, accident or any one
of many legitimate reasons are rec
ognised. The man or woman desiring
the loan makes his way to a pleasant
office room on the first floor of the
building. There he finds a seat out
side an enclosure where there Is a
wicket and wait his turn. Mr. Car
man takes him Inside when his ap
plication is reached and talka confi
dentially with the applicant at his
desk.
Mr. Carman must, of course, visit the
home of the person seeking the losn.
Whatever household goods the appli
cant possesses is Inspected. The ap
plicant must give a chattel mortgage
on this personal property, for without
at least a sense of obligation the bor
rower might not regard It as strictly
a business transaction. But that's ex
actly the basis the city works on. for
the applicant must arrange to repay
the money weekly or monthly out of
his wages as he gts them, and If out
of work must get employment before
be can become a borrower. Then when
the papers have been drawn Mr. Car
man advances the money.
The sort of people the municipal
loan agency la assisting Is Illustrated
by the woman who came to see Mr.
Carman about a loan a few days ago.
"My husband borrowed M from a
oan agent In 108." she said. "We
were then hard pressed, I did not know
Cotton-Felt
Mattress
;$9.75
Filling of cotton layer felt, cover
ing of art twill ticking, roll edge.
Guaranteed not to get lumpy.
Child's
Crib
$5.35
T
Full-size Child's Crib, 'cream
enamel finish, drop side. Guar
anteed against breakage for 25
years.
"Yum Yum" 1 rr
Springs . . . yi-UJ
Q "T. I 'IJ I IJ 1 1 af WP 1.1,1 W.l ys.esay TsyW P
h: ; r li
h ' Hi
If 1
The celebrated "Yum Yum"
Spring has 3 rolls of coil sup
ports on wire cables; perfect in
construction, durable.
Every Day We Distribute a Portion
of the $25,000, Our Annual Sav
ings in Taxes and Interest Because
We Built oii the East Side
There isn't a store in the land that doesn't claim to undersell any and all competi
tion. "We claim to do it and can prove it absolutely and conclusively to the most
' skeptical. So that you may become interested enough to put us to the test, to come
to the store and see our offerings face to face, we will tell you why we can undersell
A store's expenses consist of rent, taxes, interest on capital, help, light and heat. "We
own our store ; therefore, have no rent to pay. But we have a certain amount of
money invested in the ground and building. If this were located on the "West Side
our taxes and interest would amount to $25,000 more than they do now, "We are
occupying a most desirable economic position as regards expenses. This saving we
turn over to you in the shape of reduced prices. A most painstaking comparison
shows that our regular prices average at least 12 per cent under those of any com
petitor But at present we are outdoing ourselves quite a bit, because
During Our January Clearance Sale
Every Article Is Greatly Reduced
And the reductions are worth your while. They are worth coming for a good many
miles, even if you want only an odd chair or a spring or a pair of curtains or a
rug, for
We Guarantee You a Saving of Vz
And a word about our partial payment system : You need not hesitate about start
ing housekeeping because you feel you haven't quite money enough. Come here and
make your selection during this Clearance Sale, and take advantage of the splendid
savings. Pay a little down and become the owner of your own home and stop living
in half-furnished, cramped quarters. "We have helped establish thousands of homes
to the owners' entire satisfaction and stand ready to help you. So come as soon as
you please and get in touch with the greatest homefurnishing store in this man's town.
Miter Rugs at $1.50
Really worth while made of
velvet and Axminster car
pets. Did you ever think of
the possibilities of Miter
Rugsf They arc the most
useful of the small rugs for
bedside, wash stand, dresser,
passageway or vestibule, the
Miter Rupr is on the job . See
window display.
Couch Covers $2. 75 up
Most of them are different
from the usual things you see
elsewhere. New two-toned
effects in browns and greens
and many soft Oriental reproductions.
Axminster Rug $24.75
Size 9x12 feet; not the usual
kind, but rugs of character
with years of good reputa
tion behind them. High, lus
trous pile, with rich colorings
and small allover designs. The
kind you look for but seldom
find.
$33.00 Body
Brussels Rugs
A splendid line of standard
goods, suitable for living
room, dining-room and bed
room, in up-to-date color ef
fects. About a dozen pat
terns to close out. Size 9x12,
$31.50 and $33 values, $24.85.
$24.85
$50 WiltonRugs $34.85
9xl2-foot size, all the newest
and best things in color and
design are included in this
sale. Small allover patterns
and Oriental reproductions in
pleasing color schemes that
will appeal to the most fas
tidious housekeepers. An un
usual opportunity to secure
distinctive rugs at common
place prices.
Rugs $13.85
Seamless, 9x12 size; popular
designs and colorings, in arts
and crafts effects, that fill
the place of the high-priced
imported rugs. Very special
value at $13.85.
5eamless
Brussels
Quartered Oak
Stand at ... .
Made of s o 1 i d
quartered oak,
24x24-in. square
top, square ta
pered legs,
roomy shelf,
golden finish.
Exclusive
111? Agents
All
Heaters
Reduced
20
Quartered Oak
Rocker
:; :k $2.45
Rocker of solid quartered golden
oak, brace arms, cane seat, panel
back.
Velour Couch $9.85
Your choice of covering of plain and fancy velours, full
steel construction, spring edge, golden frame.
All Cars
Transfer to This
Store
IJVIIII- fr
rUWCTURE
Grand Avenue and East Stark St.
Open Saturday Evenings.
Kitchen
Treasure
Special
$0.25
Has 2
kneading
boards, 2
drawers and
2 bins and is
full size.
1 : J I
thtn he had borrowed the money, but
I found It out the next Summer. I
Mved money out of our household ex
penses until I had 19.
"When I went to the office of the
loan ahark he showed me where the
$9 would not cover the Interest,
which had accumulated. My husband
had (riven an assignment of wafres as
security and the man threatened to
foreclose If I did not pay what I could,
so I paid him. He then made out a
new assignment of wages and my hus
band had to sign It. The new one
covered the old interest and principal.
"We went to work to save money
again. This time we saved $15. When
we paid this the man lent us fa more.
That was to help pay back Interest so
we could start out with a debt of $25.
We then paid $7 and a few weeks later
$4. Nothing seemed to satisfy that In
terest. Finally, when the $20 debt had
become $45, we decided not to pay any
more. We tried that this Summer,
but the loan agent came to us and de
manded money or said he would pre
sent that assignment of wages to the
railroad company for which my hus
band works.
Case Finally Settled. '
"I had some money to pay htm, but
the older children needed shoes and
the younger ones needed clothes, too.
I told this story to E. J. Fleming, the
attorney In charge of the Free Legal
Aid Bureau, and he told me to go home
and not to pay any more. Mr. Fleming"
went to call on the loan shark, with,
the result that, fearing prosecution for
usury, the loan agent cancelled the
debt which we had already paid sev
eral times." This woman got the loan
she asked for. ,
DOUBTINGS KEEP MANY FROM CHRIST, SAYS PASTOR W. B. HINSON
Those Who Waver and Argue Over Word of Bible Are Held to Be but Wasting Time in This Day and Generation. y
YOU are "almost a Christian."
Intellectually you assent to the
Gospel. Wben the rreat German,
pointing to Jesus, says, "He is the holi
est among the mighty, and the might
iest among the holy." you will become
thoughtful, and then you will assent
to thf statement, and bear your wit
ness that among all the mighty, the
holiest Is Christ, and among all the
holy, the mightiest Is Christ. When
Olldrr sings:
If Jrus Christ b a man
And only a man. 1 say.
That of all mankind 1 will follow him.
And to him will clrava !) ,
you declare the choice to be wise: for
you admit that there is no one in sight
more worthy to be followed than la
Jesus. And when Gilder goes on te
say
If Jim Chrtat b a God.
And lb. oniy God. t aw.ar
1 will follow htra through h.aven and hail,
Th. .trio, the sa or ih. air.
you assent again, and you say. Whoso
thus follows Christ Is sure of a suc
cessful Issue to all right seeking.
Slwdy Brines Ceavlellen.
When your attention Is called to the
sayings of the Nazarene, you express
approval again.. Of all the world's
music you know the very richest and
moat melodious is the utterance of the
Christ. "Lt not your heart be trou
bled" you find no fault with the
statement- "Come unto me and I will
eTlve you rest" you have no hostile
criticism to pass on that. And you are
in accord with the acts of Jesus Christ.
You say it was beautiful that he
pointed to a dead sparrow, and said
God took notice of that event: beauti
ful when he took the little children on
bis knees, and kissed and blest them:
beautiful when to a lost, yet penitent
woman, be said, "Thy alas, though
many, are all forgiven; go in peace and
sin no more": beautiful when to Zacha
rlas he cried, "Come down, for today
salvation Is come to thy house."
You admire the life Christ lived.
You have watched It, and you are
thankful that once in the history of
the world a man walked on the green
grass and the gray' sand who had
never sinned: who could look up into
the eyes of God unafraid: who could
walk unharmed amid the lightnings of
Sinai and dare them to tou.rh him. The
one incomparable life! The unique
life! You admire it. And that won
derful death on the cross, when he
died for sin not his own; when he
walked into the heart of the hurricane
that others might have peace.
When he drank the bitter cup of hu
man condemnation, why then you de
clare that among the heroic souls of
the ages, he stands the tallest of them
all. And you are glad that he rose
again from the dead; It would not have
serad right to you had he not risen.
For what you would expect of a life
such as he lived. Is that it should
conquer death and destroy the grave.
Obedience Hlajkrat Wisdom.
And you say that It Is wrong to
oppose Christ, and it is jnwlse to go
contrary to his teachings, and the
highest wisdom Is to render obedience
to his commands. Tou assent to his
golden rule.
When he says go down into the
world and behave as did the Good
Samaritan on the Jericho road, you
say that teaching Is sound. You agree
with the woman on Chicago's streets
who said. "Christ- Is all right." You
Join with those London strikers who
shouted. "Three cheers for Jesus
Christ" when Tom Mann quoted a sen
tence from the sermon on the mount.
And you give assent to the sentence
on the wall of a socialist hall In
France. "Jesus Christ la the working-
man's friend." Intellectually you give
assent to the truth of the Gospel.
And further, emotionally you are
moved by that same Gospel. How much
respect thousands of men have for re
ligion because their mothers were
Christians, it were impossible to deter
mine. Over, and over, and over again
I have bad those men say to me, "Yes,
that is all right, sir; my mother had it;
my mother waa a Christian; my mother
was good, if ever there was goodness
upon the. earth." And you are moved
in your soul as you remember that old
Christian women who years ago went
up to God and glory.
Child's Faith Touchta.
And when your child to you said, "I
have found Christ, and want to Join the
church," you choked down your emo
tion and then said, "I am glad"; and
when your child was baptized, with the
tears stealing down your face you wit
nessed the act: and when Inadvertently
you came upon your child saying her
prayer, you moved away with moisture
In your eyes; and when one day you
thought your child was drifting away
from that old religion of Gethsemane
and the Cross, you said: "Child, you bad
better keep close to what you have
professed. God bless you."
And you remember the time when
that same gospel moved you as the
moon moves the tides. I have heard of
a man saying it is unwise for mothers
to teach their children to say:
Now I lay me down to sleep:
I pray the Lord my soul to keep:
If I should dls before I wake.
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
And this I aak for Jesus' sake.
But may God give America more of
such women, be they stupid or not. and
fewer of the kind who teach no prayer,
and read no Bible message .to their
children.
Do you remember when at her knees
you said. "Create in me a clean, heart.
0 God, and renew a right spirit within
me?"
How do you feel now as you think
about it? In the Toughest audience it
was ever my privilege to address, I
said, "Men, we haven't got any choir,
and I am too tired to sing much, but
1 think I know a hymn In which we can
all Join. It is the hymn your mother
sang, and your father sang it, too: and
they sang it in the Sunday school; and
in the little country church. Men, help
me sing 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul.' "
Men Hear of God.
You could see the tears In the eyes
of many of those men as they sang the
old hymn: and I had an easy task to
tell them of the great Christ, for emo
tionally they were already Influenced
by the gospel truth. When you sang
Just now, "Shall We Gather at the
River?" do you remember how you lost
sight of this church, and Instead you
saw the scenes of your childhood?
Emotionally you are Influenced by
the gospel. Though some of you people
are Irreligious, yet If an election were
on. and the destruction of the Bible the
issue. I know how you would vote;
you would vote "No." I had a man in
my church once who had been a prlse
flghter and a saloonkeeper, and he said
the great work of his conversion was
started when one night he wandered
into a hall where a man was lecturing
against religion, and the speaker said,
"We must get rid of the Bible." My
friend said. "I was full of bad wblsKy,
but somehow I seemed to see my moth
er's Bible going; and before I knew it,
I was on my feet, as I shouted. Take
your hands off my mother's Bible, or
there will be trouble.' "
He said. "They got me jut of that
hall though In getting me out, about
a score of others went with me but It
started me thinking about my mother's
Bible and my mother's Saviour."
We have been ao Influenced, emo
tionally, by this Gospel, that we have
almost yielded to It. And you can re
call the place and the time when you
thought In spite of all you could do
to prevent it, you would be swept into
the kingdom of God.
And how strong was the pressure
brought by God to bear upon your
soul can be Judged by the awful re
sistance you had to make In order
to keep from being a Christian. And
you wish at this moment you had
yielded then to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You look at your life since, and you
realise how different it would have
been had you accepted Christ, and you
say, "Would to God I had yielded."
And you intend to accept Christ some
time.
If some one presented you with a
paper that read, "God, I hereby declare
that I will never be saved," and asked
you to put your name to that docu
ment, you know very well you would
never sign it. And you also know you
would think little of that man's com
mon sense to say nothing of his wis
dom who did sign it. And you fur
ther know that at this moment you
are almost a Christian.
I do not know what is the chief
persuasive 'argument, or the great im
pelling force.
It may be a Sundav school teacher's
lesson: if may be a little grave you
left back East: it may be a letter that
you. put In the fire, but you can see
that letter now, although you de
stroyed the paper; O. I know at this
moment there are men and women who
are almost Christians, and If the nail
pierced bloody hand of my Lord
Christ were to touch you on the arm
this moment, and gently move you,
you would yield. Almost a Christian!
Common Sense Urged.
Lastly Why are you not altogether
a Christian? What ia your reason for
not being a Christian? Hypocrites in
the church; pardon me friends, that
is no reason. If it were, and you would
not do aught that hypocrites do, you
would cease breathing at this moment.
Don't Juggle with your common sense.
You have stayed out of religion be
cause there are hypocrites in it?
Then be mighty sure to escape hell,
for there are gathered all the hypo
crites who ever died. What Is your,
reason? So many Intellectual difficul
ties? I know now what is coming.
That in old ground to me. Intellectual
difficulties! Now we shall hear the
question Where did Cain get his wife?
Well, now, what is that to do with
you?
You had better consider where to get
your own wife from, and not worry
about a man who has been dead these
6000 years.
Why, If I saw you with a lathered
face, halting before you used the ra
zor, and saying, "I am not going to
shave till I find out where Cain got his
wife," I should say, "There is an asy
lum in Salem, and they have a lot of
folks like you down there, and the
sooner you go the better." Intellect
ual difficulties!
"Do you believe Jonah was swal
lowed by the whale?" That Is always
the second in the intellectual difficul
ties series. You had better study the
"Pure Food Act" and take care what
you yourself swallow, and not worry
about that oldtime fish! Intellectual
difficulties! I preached to a man like
you once. And he said, "I am not a
Christian because of the ark." I
thought I had found a new intellectual
difficulty, and with considerable In
terest I asked. "What about the ark?"
He answered, "Don't you know?" And
being a man who had Intellectual dif
ficulties, he looked down on me rather
complalsantly, and somewhat super
ciliously. And I said, "I don't know anything
about the ark that would keep a man
from being a Christian." He said. "Da
you recall that Noah built an ark? And
that it was very large, and held a
great number of animals, and was very
heavy?" "Well, your Bible says a few
Israelites bore that ark on Jheir shoul
ders for forty years, up and down in
the wilderness." What an intellectual
difficulty that man had! What a fool
that man was!
When a Gladstone said, "In the Bible
we find the green pastures and the
still waters"; where a President Mc
Kinley said, "I hold by the faith of the
Bible"; where a General Grant said,
"Hold on to your Bible, it Is the sheet
anchor of your liberty!" it does not
look well for a little pinhead like you
to be talking about your Intellectual
difficulties In regard to the Bible, a
book you have never even read!
What is the reason you are not alto
gether a Christian? Go back to this
book. Christ said. "What wilt thou
that I should do unto thou?" What wilt
thou? He is talking not so much to
the brain, or to the heart, as to the
will. You are almost a Christian; and
if at this moment you were to say to
Christ, "I will be thine," you would
be altogether a Christian. O do It now.
For you may be near the door, and
never enter; you may get within sight
of salvation, and never possess it. Be
cause the ship has gone two-thirds of
the voyage in safety is no guarantee
that it will reach the harbor.
A ship came sailing, sailing;
Over a treacherous sea.
And right in eight cf the harbor
Down in the waves went she.
And the spars and the broken timbers
Were cast on a rock-strewn strand;
And a cry went rp frnm the darkness.
Not ffir from the land.
Don't rest with being almost a Chris
tian, but now, while the door is open,
enter and be saved. O brother, you are
almost saved, turn to Christ now. last
you be altogether lost. K