there has always been a contention against it as impolitic and wrong.
In heathendom the philosophers and economists and common people were
usually arrayed against it, and the voice of christendom has been
practically unanimous in its denunciation until the 17th century. (For
History of Usury in the Church, see Chapter X.)

Greece: Greece had no laws forbidding usury. The trade in money was
left, like the trade in every thing else, without legal restraint. The
law declared that the usurer should not demand a higher rate than that
fixed by the original contract; it also advised "Let the usury on
money be moderate." One per cent. per month was the usual rate.

There were among the Greeks at various times thoughtful men, who
violently opposed the taking of increase. Solon, of aristocratic
blood, but with strong sympathies for the oppressed classes, led a
Nehemiah-like reformation. Solon was wise and patriotic. His name is a
synonym for unselfish devotion to the public good. He was given
authority in Greece in times of great financial distress. Debts were
increasing. Mortgage stones were erected at the borders of each tract
of land, giving the name of the creditor and the amount of his claim.
The interest could not be paid. Interest taking had concentrated the
wealth and power of the state in a few hands. The farmer lost all hope
and was only a laborer on the farm he once owned. The debtor who had
no farm to work for his creditor was yet in a worse condition; he was
the mere slave of his creditor and could be sold by him. The free
farmers were fast disappearing. The most of them were struggling with
miserable poverty. Solon at once came to the relief of this suffering
class. He released those who were enslaved and brought back those who
had been sold abroad. The great work of Solon for this oppressed class
has caused his name to be revered by all who have studied the history
of his times.

Plato opposed usury, but he does not give extended reasons. Also the
philosopher, Aristotle. His name is yet illustrious in the departments
of natural and moral science and economics. With regard to usury he
said: "Of all modes of accumulation, the worst and most unnatural is
interest. This is the utmost corruption of artificial degeneracy;
standing in the same relation to commerce that commerce does to
economy. By commerce money is perverted from the purpose of exchange
to that of gain; still this gain is occasioned by the mutual tran