His Little Bill of Sale

Preface

The kind reception accorded by the press and public to my last book, has led me to hope that a little story dealing with legal matters may be entertaining and instructive. I have endeavoured to expose some of the tricks of the money-lending fraternity, who thrive upon bills of sale under those wonderful pieces of legislative incompetency known as the Bills of Sale Acts 1878 and 1882. The story is not an unusual one, and the main features of it are based upon actual facts within the author's knowledge. It is hoped that the light thrown upon these matters may be of assistance to arouse public interest in the inquiry into the working of the usury laws, on which a Parliamentary Committee is now sitting. I only venture to offer one suggestion to the Com mittee, namely, that in all cases where money has been lent at over 5 per cent, interest, a judge shall have the right to inquire into the nature of the bargain, and reduce the interest to a fair sum.

ELLIS J. DAVIS. 2 Brick Court, Temple, E.C. March 1898. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. TOMKINS' LITTLE DIFFICULTIES . . I II. TOMKINS INTERVIEWS SOME PHILANTHRO PISTS ..... 7 HI. THE GENEROSITY OF THE PRESENT CENTURY 1 6 IV. EASILY BORROWED . . . .26 V. OUT OF THE DIFFICULTIES . . -35 VI. THE MATURING OF THE LOAN . . 40 VII. HOW THE BANK BEHAVED . . . 50 VIII. THE SMART LAWYER . . . -59 IX. AT CHAMBERS . . . .94 X. MR JUSTICE LANCELOT . . . IO5 XI. SLEIMY'S TRY ON . . . . I3I XII. IN THE DIVISIONAL COURT . . 1 38 XIII. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL . .156 XIV. TOMKINS NONPLUSSED . . . . l80 XV. MORE OF THE SHARP SOLICITOR . . 192 XVI. TO THE RESCUE . . . 2_3 XVII. CONCLUSION ..... 23O

Chapter I Tomkins' Little Difficulties

It wanted but three weeks to Christmas — that festive season of the year when everybody ought to have turkey, or roast beef and plum pudding ; when every Christian ought to be happy and cheerful, and not a care should ruffle the brow of the hard worked bread-winner. Yet the domestic life of our friend had not been all roses for the last few weeks, nor as the end of the year drew near, had he reason to feel as well satisfied with his surroundings as he should have done. It is true that the children had been extra good for the last two or three days. Bobby was on his best behaviour, and Mary, Anna, and Nita, otherwise Baby, had been kept singularly in the background so as not to disturb papa. Mrs Tomkins, the sweet small light of the fireside, had been unusually attentive to his little comforts.

His hot water had come up in good time, and with something more than the chill off. He had had a little variety for breakfast beyond bacon and A eggs, and he found his boots cleaned and his great coat and hat brushed in time for him to catch the express bus without having to hurry and scurry like a weasel with a ferret on his track. The student of human nature would have known what all this meant. Tomkins had a shrewd suspicion that something was in the wind. After ten years of married life, extra atten tion on the part of a spouse generally forebodes some thing, but he held his peace until one Sunday morning when his wife appeared at the breakfast table with her sweetest of smiles, and the reason of all this solicitude made itself apparent. ' My dear, do you know Christmas will be here in three weeks ? ' Tomkins looked up with a quiet smile upon his face, and paused from drinking his second cup of tea : ' Well, Georgina, the almanack would have told us that.' This was not very encouraging, but when a woman has made up her mind to speak, especially when in addition to being a female, she is a wife and a mother, she is not easily silenced.

She went on without taking any notice of this interruption. 'You know, love, that I was to have had a new dress in the autumn, and the children really are quite shabby. Mary is invited to two Christmas parties with real Christmas trees, and she can't go without a pretty frock, and the child has been so good that I wouldn't disappoint her for the world ; then Bobby TOMKINS' LITTLE DIFFICULTIES 3 grows so fast that he is always wanting new clothes, and Anna and Baby mustn't be forgotten ; then, my dear, I thought — ' and here Mrs Tomkins looked down and became rather shy. ' I thought that being Christmas we might have a few friends just to meet my sister Ethel and her young man, as we haven't given them any entertainment yet.' Tomkins drank his tea and gave a little grunt. His wife seemed satisfied and went on. ' I think mother would like to come and stay with us a few days, and, of course, we must make the old lady comfortable, and ' — this came out with a little jerk — ' Sarah has now been with us three years and I promised her a dress.' Upon this the lady relapsed into silence, whereupon her husband felt called upon to say something, but he was too unhappy at the moment to speak mildly or gently, so he remained silent, not intending to enter into a discussion which he felt would be a painful one, when his wife asserted herself with that decided : ' Well, my dear ' which we all know means an answer. ' Ducky, pet,' said Tomkins in his mildest voice, and making up his mind to face the position bravely, ' what am I to do ?

What you want means a lot of money. I have only a few pounds left from my last quarter's salary, and at Christmas there's the rent and taxes, and we want coals, and there's my brother Bill laid up, and I must help him a bit, and we have got a long winter before us, still ' — and this came very slowly — ' if— if £2 would do — I think I might manage — ' But his sentence was never finished. Mrs Tomkins felt the amount offered an insult. ' Two pounds ! why don't you say two pence ? I declare you get meaner and meaner every day. I haven't asked you for a farthing for ever so long, and it's not for me now, but for the dear children, and I don't believe you care for any of us — that I don't — ' and here tears found their way into Mrs Tomkins' eyes, and it looked like a very unhappy husband and wife.

Honestly speaking, a man must be a brute who is not moved by his wife's tears. Tomkins loved his little woman in true English fashion, and if he felt grieved at the accusation of meanness, he quite forgave her and came to her side directly she broke down. A few kisses and caresses and gentle words enabled the lady to recover herself, and the discussion proceeded : — ' You know, love, I wouldn't for the world refuse you anything if I had it, but where am I to get money ? There's nobody I can borrow of. — I still owe Phillips £2 out of the _^"io he lent me, and he is sure to want it at Christmas. I couldn't ask him for any more.' ' Well, haven't you got any other friends ? I am sure there are enough of them come here smoking pipes and drinking your whisky all the year round.' 'All poor devils like myself — there isn't one of them would refuse to assist me with a pound or two, if I was TOMKINS' LITTLE DIFFICULTIES 5 hard up, but I haven't the heart to ask any of them to deprive themselves of their little comforts or outings at Christmas, and I won't do it.' Mrs Tomkins gave a short sniff, and the conversation dropped — nor did she refer to the subject again during that day — and Tomkins was beginning to feel himself again, when at breakfast the next morning, he found what folly it is to imagine that a woman ever gives up a project upon which she has set her heart. 'My dear, why can't you borrow the money like other people do ?

There are lots and lots of people only too ready to lend — only look at the daily papers. Why, I see Mr Brown, Mr Lewis, Mr Edwards, and dozens of other people only too anxious to oblige by lending money — why can't you get them to oblige you? ' Tomkins pricked up his ears. ' Don't you know that all those people want security, and what security can I give, independently of the question of how I am to pay it back ? ' ' Tomkins, you're a fool — why, look here,' and she took up the Standard newspaper, 'here's "^"75,ooo to lend, without sureties, in sums of £\o to £500 on note of hand alone. Apply to Mr Isaacs, 4 Watling Street," — now, why shouldn't you ask him to lend you the money ? ' 'I don't believe any of them would lend me twopence, and you know what a horror I have of being in debt.' ' But, my dear, I'll be as mean and as economical as possible after Christmas, and we shall easily save enough to pay it back, and I want the dear children to look nice, and they've been so good.

Now, you will try and get me won't you, dear ? ' With the sigh of a martyr Tomkins said he would try, and having received a hug and a kiss from his now gratified wife, he put the advertisements she had referred to into his pocket and went forth to his daily work.

Chapter II Tomkins Interviews Some Philanthropists

When a man has once made up his mind at the instance of a wife, a relation, or a false friend, to embark on a downward course, his instinct generally hurries him to stifle his conscience by making the plunge as rapidly as possible. Tomkins knew as well as anybody could tell him, that to borrow money in his position was wrong, nay, more than that, it was dishonest; but neither he nor anybody else with his limited experi ence of life could have told where the first step was likely to lead. He had begun life as a bank clerk at a very small salary, and he had worked his way up by steady industry until he had earned the confidence of his employers in a rather higher degree than many of his fellow workers, and his income, though nominally only .£160 a year, with occasional perquisites and presents now reached Four pounds per week is not much upon which to keep a wife and bring up four children, but up to the present time, with the exception of some troubles when the children had suffered from infantile complaints, he had managed to pay his way.

He had even once saved £2'-, in the bank against a rainy day, but with a doctor's bill and the help he had given to one or two friends, the little capital had disappeared. It was a blow, but he bore it and hoped for a rise of salary to enable him to put by again. Now he could not refuse to help his wife to a little extra pleasure. It seemed so unselfish of her to be thinking only of the children, and if he could get temporary assistance he thought that, with care, he would be able to pay the money back. Everybody who borrows money for the first, and generally for the second and third time, intends paying it back, but such intentions are mostly like those which we are told form the pavement of a certain warm place, the belief in which is now out of fashion. Accordingly, no sooner was his day's work done, and indeed he arranged to get away a little earlier on purpose, than he took the advertisements from his pocket, and selecting the most promising, made his way to Watling Street.

Surely, he thought, a man with to lend, will make no difficulty in advancing ? There was nothing in the exterior appearance of the building to alarm, frighten, or even suggest caution to the most suspicious of his race. It was a clean, quiet-looking edifice, with an open doorway, upon the doorpost of which were affixed a series of brass plates, Q and on one he read the name of Mr Hardress, and in very small letters in the corner the words : 'Isaacs & Co.' If he puzzled for a moment to think why the advertiser's name should be so small and why a ' Co.' should be added to it, the thought passed through his mind and disappeared. Overcoming a little natural nervous trepidation caused by the object of his visit, he slowly climbed up two flights of stairs and inspected the doors. On the left was ' Mr Hardress, Private.' On the right, ' Clerk's Office.' Isaacs & Co. did not appear.

He went up to the top of the building without finding the name anywhere, and determined to inquire at the 'Clerk's Office.' There was a long counter at the end of which, behind a screened desk, a person was sitting, who jumped from his seat and confronted the visitor with a pair of bright, beady eyes, and a hooked nose that projected far into space from his seedy and careworn cheeks. ' Is Mr Isaacs to be found here ? ' asked Tomkins, rather nervously. ' Well he is, but I think he's engaged. What's your business with him ? ' There was no escaping the inquiry of that sharp face and the bright eyes that seemed to look right into you. Tomkins felt inclined to reply that his business was of a private nature, but something told him that that would only lead to another question, so he said, hesitatingly : — ' Oh, I've come to ask for a small loan.' Instantly, as if by magic, the manner of the clerk changed in a way that it is almost impossible to de scribe.

His air of hostile inquiry vanished, and with the blandest smile that such a face was capable of, he said : — ' Oh, certainly ! I have no doubt Mr Isaacs will see you, or Mr Hardress, if it is a large matter.' ' It is not a large matter.' The clerk shuffled to his desk, produced a small printed form upon which he scratched some hiero glyphics, and requested Tomkins to write his name at the bottom, in order, as he said, that he might ' take it in to the governor.' Tomkins did as he was requested without reading it, and the clerk, after a momentary disappearance, lifted up the flap of the counter and requested him to walk in, pointing towards the door of an inner room. Tomkins followed this direction, and was about to turn the handle of the door, when the clerk, with a nudge, said : ' There's a little fee of half-a-crown usually paid before you consult the governor — it's my little perquisite, you know.' Tomkins was hardly prepared to part with any money before he saw a prospect of his visit being successful, but the insinuating manner of the clerk overcame his prudence, and he slipped the half-crown into his hand.

He was rewarded by another bland smile and a whisper I I in his ear : ' Don't talk big to the governor, and you'll find him a very decent fellow.' It was a dingy-looking office, the furniture of which consisted of a writing-table and three or four chairs. There was hardly any fire in the grate ; the window was curtainless, and the walls, which had apparently been papered in the last century, were ornamented with one or two shabby engravings. A large iron safe stood in one corner, and beside it was a row of lettered deed boxes. At the table, in a rusty old leather arm-chair, sat Isaacs & Co. with a lot of letters and papers strewn on either side, and the form which Tomkins had signed on the blotting-pad before him. ' So, Mr Tomkins,' he said, waving his hand towards one of the shabby chairs, ' you vants to porrow a little money !

Veil, Isaacs & Co. have got plenty to lend. Is it yourself that vants the accommodation ? ' ' Certainly,' said Tomkins, not very favourably impressed with his interlocutor. ' Ah, veil, and how much do you vant ? and is it on a nice little reversion, or a pretty little mort gage, or shares in a limited company, or a pill of Rothschilds ? ' Tomkins did not quite understand this tirade, but he thought it best to state his case at once. ' No, Mr Isaacs, I only want a small loan for my own accommodation for a few months. I saw your advertisement in the Standard, and I thought you would be able to assist me at, of course, a reasonable rate of interest.' ' Veil, veil, Mr Tomkins, don't be angry vit my little joke, I daresay ve can oplige you. You vant fifty or a hundret pounds.' ' Twenty will be enough.' ' Veil, we don't often lend twenty, but still, if you don't mind paying for it, ve might do it.

Now vat's your security ? ' ' Security,' said Tomkins, ' well, I'll give you my note of hand, that's what you say in your ad\-ertisement.' Tomkins said this in perfect good faith, and without the least hesitation. The Jew looked at him with a long, keen, penetrating glance, and then, seeing that his visitor was really in earnest, he threw himself back in his chair and laughed till the walls rang with his merriment. ' Money on your note of hand — a bank clerk. Vat does the fellow take us for ? Here, Solomon, come and see a chap as vants to porrow vithout security.' To this call, responded a big broad-shouldered man with a clean shaven face and very red hair, who had a most unprepossessing appearance, and came in as if his assistance had been summoned to eject an intruder. ' Look at dat man, Hardress.

Take a good all-round squint at him,' said the Jew, pointing at Tomkins with his long, outstretched finger. ' He comes here, and he actually thinks that I'll lend him on his pretty face vithout any security.' ' Well,' said Mr Hardress, in a mollifying tone, ' if he is a gentleman of position, I do these things sometimes if you are too cautious, and I don't charge as much as you do, you old shark.' ' A gentleman of position ! Why, he's a bank clerk. Gets, I suppose, two quid a week, and has got to keep a dozen children out of it. I never heard such impudence in my life.' Without replying, Hardress spoke to Tomkins : — ' Never mind the old man. Could you give me two respectable sureties — householders — and a reference to your employers ? ' Tomkins had by this time almost lost his temper. He hardly began to recognise that the advertisement was a trick, but he saw that he should not get the money, and he was only anxious to escape from the office, the air of which seemed to stifle him. ' No !

I certainly could not,' he said. Mr Hardress advanced a step : — ' You must be either a fool or a swindler, sir, to come here and expect that people are going to lend you money. Why, I daresay your rent isn't paid, and I suppose your furniture is on the three years' system.' Tomkins' indignation knew no bounds. He rose, put his hat firmly on his head, and looking Mr Hardress full in the face, replied : — ' My rent is always paid to the day, and my furniture is my own — good morning.' And he walked towards the door. But the old Jew stopped him, while Hardress placed himself in his path. ' Shtop, shtop,' said Isaacs, ' you haven't paid my fee ; I vant von guinea.' ' A guinea,' said Tomkins, ' what for ? You've given me nothing, and I've wasted my time coming here through your 'false advertisement.' ' Not so fast, my friend, and don't use abusive language, it never pays — our fee is one guinea, and you'll have to pay it.' ' I won't,' said Tomkins. ' You'll not leave here till you do,' said Hardress, menacingly.

Our hero began to feel a little frightened, and looked round for some means of escape, but he saw none. Isaacs, who was watching him all the time as a cat does a mouse, began again : — ' You signed this vorm, my friend,' taking up the paper from the desk and reading from it, ' and the under signed agrees to pay the sum of von guinea for pre liminary fee and consultation with the firm.' ' I never,' said Tomkins, astounded. Isaacs called his clerk. ' Jackson, didn't this gentleman sign this form ? ' ' Yes, sir,' said the clerk ' And didn't you read it to him and explain it as usual ? ' ' Yes, sir, as usual,' said Jackson. ' Now, Mr Tomkins, will you pay this guinea, or must we go into the County Court for it ? ' And Hardress added : ' And serve the necessary document at the bank.' All this passed more quickly than one can describe, and to Tomkins it afterwards seemed as if this scene in the office was a dream, but at the moment it appeared to him that he was powerless to resist the two schemers opposing him, and there flashed through his mind the terrible consequences that might ensue, if his employers should learn his errand.

Even if inclined to resistance, he saw he would have little chance against a man so broad and muscular as Hardress. Without a word he placed a guinea on the table, and precipitately fled through the door that Hardress immediately opened for him. Tomkins returned home a sadder if not a wiser man. He had not the courage to tell his wife what had happened, and he had no sleep that night, thinking of the way in which he who had expected a little pecuniary assistance had been robbed of £1, 3s 6d.

Chapter III The Generosity Of The Present Century

The whole of the following day Tomkins was so crushed in spirit that he went through his work mechanically. He had fully intended to call at the address of one of the other money lenders, who scatter their baits so lavishly in the columns of our daily newspapers. He had resolved to act with the utmost caution — he would pay no clerk's fee, and he would sign no document. He would examine the appearance of the office well before he went in, and he would take care to have nothing but a few shillings in his pocket. In this frame of mind no one could delude him, and he might safely ascertain if all the advertisers were as bad as Isaacs & Co. But as the day waned, his courage evaporated. He grew nervous, and at last turned his face homewards, resolved to tell his wife that she must do without the money, and put the best face upon it that he could.

When he got home, his mother-in-law was in the house, and so the evening passed without the matter being mentioned. l"J At breakfast the following morning, he was surprised to find three letters awaiting him in entirely unknown handwritings. His wife was not yet down, and he turned them over nervously, dreading he knew not what from their perusal. At last he summoned courage to open them. The first read this way : — Fenchurch Street, E.C. November 189- The London Loan and Commercial Accommodation Co. Limited. Sir,— The above company has been expressly established for the purpose of affording temporary monetary assist ance to persons who may wish to avoid the publicity of recourse to the ordinary channels, or to those, who, while pretending to consult youi interest are merely adding to your temporary embarrassments by charging exorbitant interest for the small assistance they render, and who generally weary you with negotiations until your necessities place you wholly at their mercy.

The Company will advance sums from £i and upwards upon the easiest terms of repayment, agreed solely with a view to your convenience, and at the smallest possible rate of interest consistent with a remunera tion for its trouble. The favour of an early application is solicited by — Yours faithfully, John Thomas Jones (Secy.) The capital of the Company being practically unlimited, i; having the confidence of some of the leading capitalists of the financial world, the Directors have determined in future to make cash advances upon all classes of security, including Notes of Hand with and without sureties, Bills of Sale, Furniture without removal, Life Policies, Deeds, Reversions, and Leasehold and Freehold Securities of all classes, Post-obit Bonds, etc. Four per cent, interest only charged where possible.

Terms of repayment arranged to suit the borrower. No forfeiture clauses. No fees or commission charged. Letters and telegrams receive immediate attention, and loans can be carried out in any name and with the strictest and most reliable privacy. The next letter was shorter : — 5 Leinster Place, Southwark, and Queen's Road, St Leonards. Dear Sir, — Hearing that you are in want of temporary assistance, I shall be most happy to be the means of aiding you through the coming festive season. You may rely upon the strictest privacy if you will favour me with a call at my London address. With Compliments of the Season, Yours most obediently, W. Cartwright. Tomkins was much puzzled with this letter. Had he a friend of whose existence he was unaware, or had his wife been answering some advertisements behind his back, and was this letter a reply ?

Who was the Mr Cartwright, with an address in Southwark and a seaside establishment at St Leonards, so generously anxious to assist him ? Irr this cogitation, he almost forgot that there was another letter, but at last the fact that it lay there unopened dawned upon him, and he broke the envelope and read as follows : — Craven Street, Strand, W.C. November 189-. Dear Friend, — Nothing is more sad than to see a brother who may be in temporary difficulties fallen into bad hands — decoyed into disaster like the innocent fly in the web of the cruel spider. Having had large experience of the miseries that result to those who are foolish or inexperienced enough to be led by cunningly devised advertisements to apply to professional money lenders, who, under the specious guise of good intentions, and by various delusive schemes of arrangement of the mode of repayment, induce the unwary to believe that they are getting money cheap, when in reality they are often paying 300 per cent, and never less than 60 per cent, for it, I venture to offer you the assistance of an introduction to the undermentioned firm, with whom I have long been connected, and who from my personal knowledge I can safely say are in all their dealings guided by principles of the strictest honour alone.

Do not hesitate for a moment to apply to me whether your requirements are large or small, and be assured that the strictest secrecy will be observed. I am always to be found at the Bank from 10 till 2. I am, dear Friend, Most sincerely yours, Arthur E. Sleimy. The National Union Credit Discount Premium and Deposit Bank. With some little hesitation Tomkins threw the first two letters into the fire ; he had had enough of the business the day before ; in fact, when he came down that morning he had fully given up the idea of borrowing the money, so what was the use of keeping the letters ? He was also on the point of destroying the third one, but, alas ! for the weakness of humanity — it was couched in such pleasant terms, that he thought he must read it through again, and having read it through, it went into his pocket instead of the fire.

His breakfast was soon finished, and he went to his work ; but all day long that fascinating proposal kept floating before his eyes, and he read and re-read it, until at last he thought he would just go and see the ' dear friend.' There could at least be no harm in making the acquaintance of one who professed to be actuated by such benevolent motives towards would-be borrowers. As these reflections took considerable hold upon Tomkins' mind, it was not surprising that he found himself in the neighbourhood of Charing Cross before his return home, and that with a hesitating manner he entered the so-called Bank, and inquired for Mr Sleimy. Except from the fact that the ' National Union Credit Discount Premium and Deposit Bank ' appeared in gold letters on the wire window blind, there was nothing to distinguish the premises from any other quiet business place in the neighbourhood, and within, the only indica tions of business were two very juvenile clerks seated on high stools in front of desks with large ledgers upon them ; but one of these young men instantly showed him to a room upon the door of which was painted : ' Mr Sleimy, Private,' and introduced him to that gentleman. ' Ah, my friend,' began the little fair man with reddish whiskers, who cordially held out his hand to Tomkins, and motioned him to be seated, ' I am so glad to be able to save you from the snares and pitfalls that are spread for the unwary borrower.