The Penn's Grove record., 1886-09-18

ABOUT TINS natl0nal 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-
compile de Paris or the Credit Lyonnais.
The Mont de Piete Is indeed q bank,
without capital and without dividend,
From the budget Of the Paris institu.
ton for 1877, which the director NJ.
Edmond Duval, has just placed in the
hands Of the municipal council, an idea
may be obtained of the amount of bust
ness done at this bank CT piety. Tho
estimated income is put at SO, $4,000
francs-about GO, 1872, 394-and as the
accounts are supposed to do little more
than balance, the expenditure is placed
ut several thousand pounds less, a de-
crease in the business done during tho
year is attributed to the fact that many
people of all professions have been com
PEELED to leave the city owing to the de-
preston of trade. Connected with the
principal Mont de Pete there are 20
auxiliary bureaus throughout the town,
and it 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 administra-
ton is under the direction of the project
Of tho Seine. Eight per cent. Is charged
as 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,
The administration of the Mont dc
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 a year or Is months,
if the piedger does not respond to a
communication he receives from the
Mont, and renew his pledge or take out.
his property, it is sold. Within the gen.
eral administration of the Mont de Pete
there is an army of officials called the
''commissaires p~riseuls," who value the
property pledged, During last year
there were 1868 sales of unclaimed prop.
erty, which realized SAT, 9S7 francs. The
commissaires priseurs look after these
sales. and their charge is five per cent.
The director complains that the charges
of these commissaires are excessive, and
threatens reform, Should the property
sold bring more than it was originally
valued at, the owner gets the difference,
but he does not lose through deprecia-
ton of value. Articles may be redeemed
ad inGnitum. AT the immense store
house in the Rue dies Blancs there are
articles that have been renewed for over
40 years. One antiquated umbrella has
been there since 1923, during which
time itsFafue has been paid four or five
times over in interest. As a different
colored ticket is siyen each time a
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 Piete made a present OF the VEN
cradle parapluie to the proprietog. After
all the expenses of the Mont de Pete have
been met, the balance, if any, goes to
the public asslstance--the relief of the
poor. There are between 40 and 80
Monts de Piete 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 a capital
fund 1.-THE result of private donations)
for its pawnshop, and charges no inter
est for articles less than 30francs value.
Outside the national institution pawn
broking is prohibited in France. n
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 1893 one was estab-
lished in Liege. In the year 1462 several
establishments called Month di Pieta
were started in Italy, under the care
and protection of the church, in opposi-
ton to the usury practices of the jews,
who evenat that remote period seemed to
have embarked in the old clothes and mo-
neylending business. All the early Monts
de Piete we're connected with churches
or hospitals, and were a species of charl-
table banks which charged no interest.
In 1889 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 Ia Reynie, chief OF the police
in Paris. Numerous projects were put
forward during the sixteenth and seven
tenth centuries but they fell through,
though Colbert and other prominent
statesman favored them. In 1902 the
council of finance declared that it would
be to the ''glory of God, the service of
the state and the public interest" were
Monts de Piete 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-
her, 1777, that Louis XIV. sanctioned
the Mont de Pete. 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 q
tremendous success. In the year 1888
there were 500, 900 different articles
pawned. AT the time of the revolution
the Mont de Pete was suppressed, ON
the ground that it was a monopoly, and
Immediately the Jews and the Lombards
stepped in and carried on a flourishing
business. The Republic, considering the
condition of things 'intolerable, y re-es-
tablished the Mont de Pete after five
years, and, with slight changes now and
then in the administration, it has con-
tinued even since with increasing sue
Gees. There are, opponents to the sys-
TEN, and those who allege that it is q
Mont Sans Piete. But NJ. Edmond
Duval, in a work which he is preparing
giving the whole history and admins
tration of the institution, says that the
annual results of the Mont de Pete
show that the establishment has become
Indispensable to the population OF Paris,
who are too intelligent to pay any heed