Obviously the one who suffers most at the hands of high-rate lenders is the borrower, yet he is almost the only member of society who, has done nothing about his plight. No case is known where a group of borrowers (or even a single borrower) have made a fight for themselves. The economic condition of loan shark victims explains much, but not all, of this situation. Legal aid societies necessarily have been occupied in finding a solution for the whole problem. They have been joined by employers who would not ignore the effect of the illegal lending system on their employees; by labor leaders, concerned with the wholesale impact on union members; and by social workers, altruistic citizens, civic organizations and business and professional associations who recognized the economic waste and the human suffering created by an unregulated lending racket. These groups, who have no direct interest in the outcome, are the ones who have taken the lead in marshalling public opinion behind a program for the relief of the borrower. The principal research on the problem was undertaken by such organizations as the Russell Sage Foundation. The legislative solution came only after years of experimentation with practically all types of laws, and through the efforts of all these groups. Few other social evils involve the legal, ethical and emotional intricacies of the loan shark problem. The legislatures of our most advanced states struggled with its complexities for over thirty years before reaching any satisfactory solution-and the problem is not static. Prohibition-"let's pass a law against it"-is still the starting point in the thinking of the average person, even though nine states in the period from i884 to i898 became convinced that criminal penalties alone offered no real or lasting solution.' Even where the problem is of staggering proportions the general public may not be aware of its existence, for the corner policeman does not so readily detect usury as he does a case of murder, arson or burglary. Furthermore, the victim of burglary is more apt to cry out than is the victim of usury. In states having no