Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-09-22
A NATIONAL PAWN SHOP.
How and Where the Parisian Secs
HIS Uncle" or "Aunt."

! ManteauX-lS a large fye story DulldlnS
with its windows securely barred and
wired, as if something precious were con-
tanned within, with the ever prominent
words Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
carved on its walls, and over the door
way of which, just under the tricolor,
may be read in large gold lettering
Mont de Piete" Several republican
guards walk about the two large courts
! within, and there are other signs of Off
cialism, and that the building in ques-
tion is national property. 1t is, indeed,
the headquarters of the national pawn
shop. With us, when an unexpected
crisis in ones financial affairs leads him
to temporarily get rid of some of his
personal property, he euphoniStically
| tells his friends that he has been to his
'.uncles." A Frenchman in similar
straits visits his ''aunt," whose real
name throughout France is the Mont de
Piete. There are no odious associations
about this national institution such as
have become connected with some estab-
lishments conducted by pious Israelites.
| A Frenchman will not stink away
sneakingly to his ''aunt," but, when
necessity requires it, will visit her fear
lesSly and openly as he would the Es-
compte de Paris or the Credit Lyonnais.
/ The Mont de Piete is indeed bank,
without capital and without dividend.
From the budget of the Paris institu-
/ tion for 1877, which the director NJ.
Edmond Duval, has just placed in the
I hands of the municipal council, an idea
may be obtained of the amount of busi-
ness done at this bank of piety. The
estimated income is put at SO, 3l9, ,620
/ francs-about e3, 49,, 3S4-and as the
accounts are supposed TO do little more
than balance, the expenditure is placed
at several thousand pounds less. y de-
crease in the business done during the
year is attributed TO the fact that many
people of all professions have been ccm-
relied to leave the city owing to the de-
preston of trade. Connected with the
principal Mont de Piete there are 20
auxiliary bureaus throughout the town;
and ii is perhaps about the only institu
/ ton in Paris which is open all the year
round. fete days included. The director
of the concern is appointed by the min
| lister of the interior, and the adminlstra-
ton is under the direction of the project
of the Seine. Eight per cent. is charged
rs interest on the articles pledged. This
charge is unquestionably high, but the
expenses it has to meet are considerable.
In irregular pawnshops the percentage
charged sometimes reaches 80 per cent.
1 The administration of the Mont de
Pete contemplate reducing their rate.
The money thus acquired goes to pay
all the expenses of management, the
erection and maintenance of buildings,
etc. At the end of year or 10 months,
if the pledger does not respond to 4
communication he receives from the
Mont, and renew his pledge or take out
his property, il is sold. Within the gen.
eral administration of the Mont de Piete
there is an army OF officials called the
''commissaireS priseuIS,n who value the
property pledged. During last year
there were 1868 sales of unclaimed prop
erty, which realized 541, ,9S7 francs. The
cOmmisSaires priseurs look after these
sales. and their charge is five per cent.
The director complains that the charges
of these cOnmisSaires are excessive, and
threatens reform. Should the property
sold bring more than it was originally
valued at, the owner gets the difference,
bat he does not lose through deprecia-
ton of value. Articles may be redeemed
ad iniinitum. At the immense store
house in the Rue des Blancs there are
articles that have been renewed for over
40 years. One antiquated umbrella has
been there since 1923, during which
time its value has been paid four or five
times over in interest. As different
colored ticket is liven each time
pledge is renewed, the umbrella has
long since exhausted all the colors of the
rainbow, and on the last occasion when
the ticket was presented for renewal, the
Mont de Pete made present of the VEN
cradle parapluie TO the proprietor. After
all theeXpenseS of the Mont de Piete have
been met, the balance, if any, goes to
the public assistance--the relief of the
poor. There are between 40 and 80
MOnts de Pete in France, and all are
managed on the same principle and are
under the care of the municipal councils.
The Paris house wish TO have capital
fund 1.-THE result of private donations)
for its pawnshop, and charges no inter
est for articles less than 80 francs value.
Outside the national institution pawn-
broking is prohibited in France. Y
man was recently caught who carried on
a successful business by buying up pawn
tickets. and he will in due course be
punished.
The pawnshop is an ancient institu-
ton. As early as 1l9S one was eStab-
lished i'll Liege. In the year 1862 several
establishments called Monti di Pieta
were started in Italy, under the care
and protection of the church, in opposi-
tion to the usury practices of the Jews,
who even at that remote period seemedto
have embarked in the old clothes and mo-
ney lending business. All the early Monts
de Pete were connected with churches
or hospitals, and were species of chari-
table banks which charged no interest.
In 1899 the Lombards began to run
pawnshopS in opposition to the Jews in
Lombardy and in Holland; but from the
presence of the Jew and the three brass
balls in the same house it would seem
that the two had amalgamated at some
period in their history. The Mont de
Piete was long of being established in
France, chiefly owing to the opposition
of NJ. de la Reynie, chief of the police
in Paris. Numerous projects were put
forward during the sixteenth and seven
teenth centuries but they fell through,
though Colbert and other prominent
statesman favored them. In 1902 the
council of financedeclared that it would
be to the ''glory of God, the service of
the state and the public interest,"" were
MontS de Pete established. Necker
took the same view, and protested
against the conduct of the avaricious
Jews and others who practiced on the
cupidity of the public and successfully
fleeced them. 1t was not until Decem-
Der, 1717, that Louis XIV. sanctioned
the Mont de Piete. Soon after this the
first was opened at Paris. 1t was under
the charge of the chief of police and
four administrators of the general hos
pital. The rate of interest charged was
thee and one-half and four and one
fourth per cent. The concern was a
tremendous success. In the year 17SS
there were 100000 different articles
pawned. At the time of the revolution
tho Mont do piafa yoc S,,rpraccoJ ~,