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BRAZIL
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BRAZIL .* 5 — 100 Sen= I Yen. 20 Yen piece. . See also:Gold 16'666 900'0 1'0 '2 2 I o 9 97 moo Reis 20 Milreis piece. Gold 17'929 916'6 2 4 10'2 10 91 10 . . „ 8'333 900'0 1'0 '3 I o 6 4 98 = 1 Milrei. ro „ „ 8'964 916'6 — — 1 2 5 5 45 5 „ • . ++ 4166 900'0 Yo '4 o lo 3 2 49 2 „ See also:Silver 25'500 916'6 0 4 5 I 9 5o Sen „ . Silver 13'478 800'0 3'0 '35 0 I 01 0 25 1 „ „ 12'25o 916'6 o 2 21 o 55 20 „ ++ 6'391 800'0 3'0 '5 e o 5 0 10 Is +, •• 6.375 916'6 — — o I I o 27 10 2'695 Soo'o 3'0 '6 0 0 2-'2 0 5 * Inconvertible See also:paper currency. I Until 1906 there was no See also:mint in See also:Canada. See also:English and See also:American coins circulate. The See also:standard is gold (1 =4.866 dollars). There were formerly different methods of counting, viz. English See also:sterling, See also:Halifax currency and See also:Canadian sterling; the respective ratios being Too: 120: 108. 2 The Mexican currency has been entirely altered in its standard by the legislation of 1905. The gold-See also:exchange See also:system has been brought into force. The old-established See also:dollar, which is called piastre, is reduced so as to represent a ratio of about 33.1. 3 The dollar was introduced in 1787 as the unit. In 1792 the ratio of gold to silver was fixed at 1 to 15. This valuation under-rated gold, consequently silver became the standard. In 1834 the ratio was altered to 1 to 16, and it was again changed in 1837. In these changes gold was overrated, and silver was driven out of circulation. This led, in 1853, to the reduction of the See also:metal in the silver coins, which therefore became a token-currency. The suspension of See also:cash payments took See also:place in 1861. In 1873 silver was demonetized, and gold became the standard. In 1878 the " Bland See also:Bill " was passed, making the silver dollar a legal See also:tender, but confining its coinage to the executive, and fixing the amount at from two to four million dollars per See also:month. The difficulties that resulted from this measure led to the See also:Sherman See also:Act of 1890, providing for the coinage of silver to the See also:annual amount of 54,000,000 oz. Owing to the See also:critical situation created by these efforts to aid silver, the See also:repeal of the Sherman Act was carried in 1893. Since then the See also:chief problem has been to maintain an effective gold reserve. ' The See also:Argentine currency is, in practice, one of inconvertible paper. The gold coins were altered in 1881. The old See also:South American onza weighed 27 grammes, was 875 See also:fine and See also:worth 3, 4s. 6d. 5 The Brazilian currency is greatly depreciated. It is derived from the Portuguese. 6 The Chilean coinage was reformed in 1895, when the gold standard was adopted, and the system brought into relation to the English one. Two Chilean Condors (20 peso pieces) being equal to f In 1904 See also:Colombia adopted the gold standard by taking the See also:equivalent of the U.S. dollar as the unit; but the inconvertible paper is the See also:main currency; and the old coins pass as commercial See also:money. 8 After attempting a parity with the Latin See also:union, and passing through a See also:period of inconvertible paper, See also:Peru has adopted the English gold standard and coinage, but keeps her own silver denominations. 9 The silver standard was prescribed in See also:India in 1835, with the use of the gold mohurs. The latter was demonetized in 1853. In consequence of the fall in the gold value of silver, the See also:Indian mints were closed to the coinage of silver, otherwise than by the See also:government, in 1893. The amount of currency was so limited as to bring the See also:rupee to the value of Is. 4d. On the realization of this position, English sovereigns were made legal tender at the ratio of 15 rupees = 1 See also:sovereign. India has, by these See also:measures joined the class, now becoming numerous, of gold-exchange standard countries. Io The old See also:Japanese currency consisted of gold cobangs and silver itzibus, with a ratio of 4 to 1. This See also:antique system was replaced in 1871 by a See also:double-standard one on the See also:French See also:plan, the ratio being 16.17: IT. The system passed first into one of silver monometallism; and then became one of inconvertible paper. The See also:great reform of 1897, aided by the See also:Chinese See also:War See also:indemnity, placed the currency on the gold basis. few countries that has not found See also:change desirable. See also:France has reorganized her token coins (1864), entered into the Latin union (1865) and adopted the limping standard in 1874. See also:Germany has completely transformed the monetary system hitherto existing in the See also:German States (1873). The Scandinavian union has been set up (1875). See also: Remarks.—In addition to the See also:tabular statements, the following points respecting the currencies of less advanced countries may be Indicated. Though there is a tendency to establish the money of the See also:mother-See also:country in colonies, some of the British possessions, acquired by See also:conquest, have kept their former currency. There has been a widespread See also:movement in the backward countries of the See also:world towards reforming their money; chiefly by setting up some See also:line of connexion with the gold standard. In South and Central America the dollar has been retained as the unit; but the movement for co-ordination with the French system has ceased. The English standard has been preferred as a See also:model by See also:Chile and Peru. In See also:Asia the currency of the Philippines has been reorganized under American See also:control. See also:China is considering monetary reform, and See also:Siam has made progress in the direction of the gold-exchange standard. Probably the most defective currencies are now those of See also:Turkey and her tributary states.
I. Economic See also:text-books: English and American—J. S. See also: S. See also:Nicholson, Principles of Political Economy (3 vols., London, 1893–1901); F. A. See also: 
See also:Chevalier, Cours d'economie politique (vol. iii. " La Monnaie," See also:Paris, 185o) ; P. Leroy-See also:Beaulieu, Traite d'economie politique (4 vols., Paris, 1896) ; C. Gide, Cours d'economie politique (Paris, 1909). German: H. Mangoldt, Grundriss der Volkswirtschaftslehre (2nd ed., See also:Stuttgart. 1871); G. Schonberg, Handbuch der politischen Oeconomie (See also:Tubingen, 1882; 4th ed., 1904) ; G. See also:Schmoller, Grundriss der allgemeinen .Volkswirtschaftslehre (See also:Leipzig, 1900–1904). The Dutch See also:work by N. G. See also:Pierson has been translated into English with the See also:title Principles of Economics (London, 1902). II. See also:Special See also:treatises on " Money ": W. S. See also:Jevons, Money and the Mechanism of Exchange (London, 1875) ; F. A. Walker, Money (New York, 1878) ; J. S. Nicholson, Money and Monetary Problems (London, 1888 ; 6th ed., 1902) ; C. A. See also:Conant, The Principles of Money and Banking (2 vols., New York, 1905) ; A. Arna.une, La Monnaie, le See also:credit et le change (Paris, 1894; 2nd ed., 1902); A. de Foville, La Monnaie (Paris, 1907) ; C. Knies, Geld and Kredit (See also:Berlin, 1873–1879) ; G. F. Knapp, Staatliche Theorie See also:des Geldes (Leipzig, 1905). MONEY-LENDING, the lending of money on See also:usury (q.v.). The business of the professional money-lender is one which, astyranny and abuse are likely to appear, all countries have at different times endeavoured to regulate. In See also:England the lessons of experience have shown that the abuses of this business are best regulated by a system of See also:registration coupled with See also:relief to debtors against harsh and unconscionable bargains. Other countries however still appear to cling to the belief that it is wisest to See also:fix a maximum See also:rate of legal See also:interest. Thus in Germany the commercial See also:code fixes the legal rate of interest on commercial transactions at 5 %. Moreover in that country traders can demand interest on commercial debts from the See also:day on which the debts fall due. In France, again, the Code fixes the rate of interest on See also:ordinary loans at 5%, and on commercial trans-actions at 6%. In the United States of America the See also:law See also:relating to the lending of money on usury varies in the different states. All the states have what is called a " legal rate " of interest; and when no rate of interest is specified in the See also:contract between the parties, there is a presumption that the borrower has agreed to pay the legal rate. This legal rate varies from 5% in See also:Louisiana to 8% in See also:Wyoming; in the Eastern states it is generally 6%. Some of the states have usury See also:laws giving relief to borrowers in cases where circumstances have compelled them to agree to extortionate rates; but other states have no such laws, except that a contract in See also:writing is invariably required in all cases where the " legal rate " is exceeded.
Practically every See also:form of investment in which a See also:man is capable of indulging involves the lending and borrowing of money, the interest exacted being the profit which the lender receives for the use of his See also:capital. The existence of the professional lender, as apart from the ordinary facilities for borrowing money on See also:good See also:security, is obviously due to the fact that it is not every borrower who is in a position to give good security for a See also:loan. Where the security is See also:bad the See also:market is narrowed; the individuals who are prepared to lend the money on merely See also:personal security require a high rate of interest.
The first See also:people to practise the profession of money-lending in England regularly were the See also:Jews, and the business has remained largely in their hands, though they are in the See also:habit of trading under assumed names. The See also:Norman and Angevin See also:kings were fully alive to the advantages which accrued to the people through borrowing at usuryfrom the Jews, but they were also alive to the advantages which they themselves were able to reap by extorting from the Jews the See also:wealth which the latter had acquired from the people. The Jews were regarded as the See also: III. c. 5). The acts were directed to restrain the lending of money at usurious rates. The earlier ones in some cases prohibited the lending of money on usury at all, as in a See also:statute of Jewry of the reign of See also:Edward I.; but the later statutes were chiefly confined to limiting the rate of interest. Thus 21 Jac. I. c. 17 declared void all contracts where the interest was more than 8%. In 1818 a select See also:committee of the See also:House of See also:Commons was appointed to consider the Usury Laws and in 1841 a similar committee of the House of Lords was appointed. As a result an act was passed in 1854 (17 & 18 Viet. c. 90) whereby all the existing laws against usury were repealed.
The question whether any interest is payable or not, and also the amount of such interest, depends on whether the parties to the transaction have expressly or impliedly agreed to the See also:payment of interest by the borrower; for apart from such agreement no interest can lawfully be demanded on a loan.
Although in See also:general there is no limit on the amount of interest which a borrower may agree to pay, See also:equity has always been ready to See also: This equitable relief is still available, though it is not so wide as the relief now given to borrowers under the Money-lenders Act 1900. This act provides that where proceedings are taken in any See also:court by a money-lender for the recovery of money See also:lent, and there is See also:evidence which satisfies the court that the interest charged on the loan, or the amounts charged for expenses, inquiries, fines, See also:bonus, See also:premium, renewals, &c., are excessive, and that in either See also:case the transaction is harsh and unconscionable, or is otherwise such that a court of equity would grant relief, the court may reopen the transaction and take an See also:account between the money-lender and the person sued, and may, notwithstanding any statement or See also:settlement of account or any agreement purporting to See also:close previous dealings and create a new See also:obligation, reopen any account already taken between them and relieve the person sued from payment of any sum in excess of the sum adjudged by the court to be fairly due in respect of such See also:principal, interest and charges as the court, having regard to the See also:risk and all the circumstances, may adjudge to be reasonable. The Money-lenders Act of 1900 was passed in consequence of See also:grave abuses which had arisen. It had been the practice of a certain class of lender to See also:trade under a variety of names; so that under one name the same individual would lend money to a person who borrowed from him under another name; the second loan would be spent in liquidating the first, and the borrower finding it always easy to obtain more money would continue borrowing until he became hopelessly involved. The act struck at the See also:root of this pernicious system by providing that every money-lender, as defined by the act, must See also:register himself as such, under his own or usual trade name, and in no other name, and with the address, or all the addresses if more than one, at which he carries on his business of a money-lender. If a money-lender fails to register himself, or if he carries on a money-lending business otherwise than in his registered name, or in more names than one, or elsewhere than at his registered address, he is liable on See also:summary conviction to a fine, not exceeding one See also:hundred pounds. For the purposes of the act " money-lender " is defined as including every person whose business is that of money-lending, but it does not include pawnbrokers, in respect of business carried on by them under the Pawnbrokers Act, Registered Friendly, Loan or See also:Building See also:Societies, coporate bodies incorporated or empowered by special act of See also:parliament to lend money, persons See also:bona fide carrying on the business of banking or See also:insurance, or bona fide carrying on any business not having for its See also:primary See also:object the lending of money, or bodies corporate for the See also:time being exempted from registration by See also:order of the See also:Board of Trade. The act is not confined to providing for the registration of money-lenders and for the reopening of harsh and unconscionable bargains. A check is placed on false representations and promises made with the intention of inducing a borrower to enter into a loan transaction. If any money-lender, or any manager, See also:agent or clerk of a money-lender, or any person being a director, manager or other officer of a See also:corporation carrying on the business of a money-lender, by any false, misleading or deceptive statement, See also:representation or promise, or by any dishonest concealment of material facts, fraudulently induces, or attempts to induce, any person to See also:borrow money or to agree to the terms on which money is to be borrowed, he is declared by the act to be guilty of a See also:misdemeanour and is liable on See also:indictment to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a See also:term not exceeding two years, or to a fine not exceeding five hundred pounds, or to both. The act further provides that if any one for the purpose of earning interest, See also:commission, See also:reward or other profit sends or causes to be sent to a person whom he knows to be an See also:infant any circular or other document which invites the person receiving it to borrow money or to apply to any person or at any place with a view to obtaining See also:information or See also:advice as to borrowing money, he shall be liable, if convicted on indictment, to imprisonment with or without hard labour, or to a fine, or to both imprisonment and fine. If any such circular or document sent to an infant purports to issue from any address named therein or indicates any address as the place at which application is to be made with reference to the subject See also:matter of the document, and at that place there is carried on any business connected with loans, every person who attends such place for the purpose of taking See also:part in or assisting in the709 carrying on of such business will be deemed to have sent or caused to be sent such circular or document, unless he proves that he was not in any way a party to and was wholly ignorant of the sending of such document. Moreover, by See also:section 5 of the Money-lenders Act 1900, where any proceedings are taken against the senders of these circulars to infants, if it is proved that the person to whom the document was sent is an infant, the person charged will be deemed to have been cognisant of the fact unless he proves that he had reasonable grounds for believing the infant to be of full See also:age. Under the act of 1892 this shifting of the See also:burden of See also:proof only occurred if the circular had been sent to any person at any university, See also:college, school or other place of See also:education. As for the recovery of money lent; if the loan is not tainted with illegality or immorality, or made for a purpose contrary to public policy, the amount may be recovered by a See also:common law See also:action. Where an intending borrower breaks his agreement to borrow, specific performance will not be granted, and the See also:damages recover-able must be measured by the loss sustained through the See also:breach and not by the sum agreed to be lent (The South See also:African Territories, Limited v. Wallington (1897), I Q.B. 692). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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