As to what is called _gratuitous_ credit, it could be possible only by being reciprocal. In fact, if I loan you my house, and you loan me in return your land, supposing they are of equal value, it is evident that, the one being worth as much as the other, and the two services equivalent, we need not pay each other anything; for it would be only an exchange of money. But nothing can be inferred from this, touching the most usual case: namely, where the capital is loaned by the possessor to him who does not possess; for then there is no reciprocity, consequently no gratuity. As to the rate of interest it varies like all values according to the law of supply and demand in the money market. (See the _Cours d'Economie Politique_.) The greater the supply of capital the less dear it is. It is, then, the increase of capital that is to diminish interest and bring about a sort of relative gratuity. Every enterprise against capital will produce a contrary result. As to the rent of capital, it has generally raised fewer objections than interest; for it is easier to understand that if I give myself the trouble to build a house, it is that it will bring me in something; but it is, on the whole, the same thing, with this difference, that circulating capital, running more risks than fixed capital, seems to have a still better right to remuneration. The lender has then the right to exact a certain amount over and above the sum loaned. Certainly, he cannot exact it, as it often occurs among friends, and for very small sums. But as a principle, one is no more obliged to lend gratuitously, than to give to others gratuitously what they need. In admitting that the interest of money is a legitimate thing, is one obliged also to admit that the money-lender has a right to fix the rate of interest as high as he wishes? Beyond a certain limit, will not the interest become what we call _usury_? To which may be replied: "1. If the one borrowing consents to pay the price, it is that this service done him does not appear to him too dear. One may borrow at 20 and even 30 per cent., if one foresees a gain of 40. 2. Why not look at the thing from the lender's standpoint? If the return of the funds appears more or less doubtful, why should he not have the right to protect himself?" (_Dictionary of Politics_, by Maurice Block.) These arguments prove, in fact, that it is impossible to determine beforehand and absolutely the rate at which it may be permitted to lend, and there are many cases where a very high interest may be legitimate: for instance, in what is called _bottomry-loan_, which consists in advances made to shipping merchants on their ships; the law here sanctions very high interest, because of the exceptional risks this kind of enterprise runs.