Martin v. Moore

George Rose Smith, Justice.

Our Constitution, adopted in 1874, provides that all contracts for a greater rate of interest than 10% per annum shall be void as to principal and interest. Art. 19, § 13. The question here is whether the Constitution prohibits the practice, widely used in business transactions, of computing interest on the basis of a 360-day year. The Court of Appeals certified the case to us under Rule 29 (4). We have no hesitancy in holding, for practical, legal, and historical reasons, that the use of the 360-day year is lawful even when the interest rate is 10%.

In four separate…