Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-10-09
MEXICAN PAWNsHo17p;;
ALAND WHERE morr,
ALMOST WITHOUT LIVE ~ len


ALMOST WITHOUT 11 IN len
A National Pawnbrokin.
ment and its So 900 Patro ,ao''sh
Auctions and its Methods Of IT
ing. - Loan
The great Mexican uncle is A
numerous of his kind in tho wn 30 .ne mos
Of the II 100000 inhabitants 90 ~, ou
try fully 1O,0OO,OOO patronize ~ ~, Inc e'm
shops, and you can spout anyth iv pawn
silk handkerchief to si(n On. IRON ,o
mond. You find these naw vv,yvo dia
every village and city, and thcrn s"oPs
' .aa4 seS1y mere at thu capital. The him
gest OF these is to a certain extent mag
the government. 1t is known as "'', a,
Monte de Piedad, and it has bn.n Jug
operation more than one hundre1 N
tifty years. 1t was founded as n NJ a'la
thr"Wc institution by Spanish ."'''l
who endowed it with a c,m;.' .I"n'
100000, and this capital has '''' OF
then been doubled. 1t hus m;i n:nce
OF dollars worth of goods , !" m
vaults, and great many Of tho IT'S
thiest families loan their Jewels 10 :; ae,'l
safe-keeping. 1t has it's fixed r,l " !" 10,
all depositors are treated alike. TN. " ;n
terest charged ranges from 5 to 10 ~ IN, IN,
cent. per Mlnum, and it looms from 81, p.'
$4,000 at u time on single ar,i - IL
Everything under the sun is ucccn." l,i'S'
security. and the appraisers estim;',' u: ~
worth, and the pawnshop looms two.t h;. ~
OF the value they put upon it. All, ln.ms
must be renewed within eight months ,r1'.S
and if they are not the goods are nnt ns
for sale Mt the appraisers walnut W
They are sold at auction for as munI
they will bring above this, and these nnn
ton sales are held once month. If IL.
goods fail to sell, they are marked DOWN. WY
for the next months sale, and this u,rl
ing is continued until they find a NM
chaser. 1t the goods do not bring a.
much as the amount Of tho loan, the IN.
praisers must make up tho deficiency "p,
OF their own pockets. This pawn sIon
loans 81 600, 600 q year. and it has abnnt,
10000 debtors, so that the AVERAGE ],,m
is about So. Tho loans average ;,(N,
day, and about ono third Of the articles
lOtllGu uTc ICFCT r0U604Q60.
The Monte de Piedad has branch off
ces in all the big cities. Of Mexico. and
the chief shop at the capital is lust on.
posite the great cathedral and within n
stones throw of the National palace.
hove visited it Il number of times during
the past two weeks, and l attended one
of it's auctions this morning, SAYS Frank
6. Carpenter in City Of Mexico lctte,
to the New York World. 1t looks more
like great junk shop or auction room
than like the big banking institution i,is,
Furniture Of oil kinds, from pianos to
cheap chromos, bicycles and mirrors,
saddles and harness, shawls and clothing
were mixed up in n heterogeneous mass,
and men and women were examining
them and looking at the tickets which
contained the prices fixed by the ap.
praisers attached to them. As one found
what he wanted he would point it out to
the auctioneers and they would put il
up and show it to the rest. If any higher
bid was gotten the auctioneer went on
until it was sold, but as a rule it was
knocked down to the first applicant. In
another part of the room were great store
cases containing hundreds of gold
watches. thousands Of dollars worth Of
diamonds and pearls and articles Of Jew
elry set with precious stones of every
description. The appraisers valuation
was attached to each Of these ar.
ticles, and they were auctioned of to the
highest bidders. noted that the clerks
OF the establishment always told whether
the stones were true or false. The sales
were fair and in most cases the goods
were very cheap. For long time this
pawnshop gave oil its profits to the
church. Then for time they went to
the government, and now the institution
is run to certain extent by private
corporation.
In addition to the Monte de Piedad you
lind private pawnshops all over Mexico.
AT these the loans are much more costly,
and 5 and 10 per cent. month is not un-
common. They take any kind Of proper
ty as security, and they are in reality
often Fences" or receivers Of stolen
goods: In no country in the world will
you find more petty thieving than in
Mexico, and these pawnshops are largely
the cause Of it. The Mexican peon is
largely sneak thief. He is not rob-
Der, and while he would have no COM
Functions about stealing towel or
handkerchief or suit Of clothes, he
would not touch a package of $1,000 il
he saw it lying in your room at the hotel.
The penalties for stealing are exceeding.
y heavy in Mexico, and the majority OF
thefts are of things that would not pay
the expense Of conviction.
These pawnshops form the only bank.
ing establishments Of the greater part OF
Mexico. In the smaller towns there are
no banking institutions whatever, and
Mexico City, with its 100000 people. its
immense business and trade, and its num-
bers OF wealthy people, has less than
halt-dozen legitimate banking institu'
tons.
Sho~n p~o< n0Ro~ RRo<h~1a