New-York tribune., 1893-12-31
THE INTEREST TOO HIGH.
EXCESSIVE RATES CHARGED BY PAWN
BROKERS'.
,:Ec.ssAnY IU,npENs IMPOSED on rooR FEo-
rLE-NEED\or REroRx-ErRorEAN
~ sygTENs

1 :Ec,'ssARY TURDENs IMPOSED on rooR PEo-
riE-NEED\or REroRx-ErRorEAN
u sYsrEMs
In th' ~xuberance OF the growth ana deVe'op-
ment tn. strong young life Of this Republic. her
aons n ~ on,n 'sei inclined to 'jcct where th"y
do not derive many OF the customs which prevail IN
the older countries the other side "f the Atanuc
Ocean vet n YOU can convince the average Ameri-
can Of the existence OF sornc law or custom IN
'cfYee Europe which IL better In its purpose ann
in Its application than law or custom OF inc same
kind In America you have already won haIf your
case and all that remains to bring about the "e-
sired change IL the method Of the successful TO-
former-oryantze agitate. Take this matter of the
pawnbroking business. \; the present moment ''"
subjects present themselves with more ftrkihS
force and with more immediate Interest 10 the nhi
OF the average workirgman than the way In which
the persons engaged IN that business grow rich III
almost tho same proportion a. he grows poor An
unfortunate man who from cause or another
nn,ls himself suddenly In want has not tim" In CON-
slider the subject: nor In community hk" 'h'S.
whcr" everybody Il huiryirg and srurr'ing ana
jos,llng his nrighbor. docs anybody else riv" tn"
matter n thought. except perhaps. IN" r"'fc"n-'
People have been pawnng goods hundreds "f years
heforc America Wa numb roI the family Of
nations. and II not In those days II II certainly 'a't
that In these days the people who are most directly
concerned have inclination. even II they hav" IN"
time to busy themselves. nhou IN" laws which gov
such vital moment In country where the mass"s
rather than the cla-ses' arc the ruling power
ABUSES TO NJ REMEpIEp.
II becomes the part thcrcforr Of those whose only
hop. Of reward is TO Justice established In every
AFFAIR ~ NE to point ou how abuses may h- r~m"ii"1
AMI equity and fair dealing established between man
and man. The trade In which pswnbrokers are en-
gagcd a. II Is operated In this city. II far from be-
Ing equitable Any person who has the slightest
Wl; hc subject scarcely fall to
admit this Thor IL no ntel'rn IN what 10 her"
written TO arraign pawnbrokers 80 object merely Il
to point out the abuses Of the sy' IN md I" ssEest
a remedy. In an uncxampcd season ~! % o." such
IA that which at present overvhelms .ars" por-
ton of the working population of Sew-York. and.
inierI. ~ majority Of the other big cities ~ the
Tnion u b-corn-s the duty of lawmakers. among
other things ~ ,il that they To helpless
pcopl" from Themselves
The owner OF a liquor store. the owner of n far
ni,ure storage warehouse or the owner Of pawn
shop could. any Of .hem II he would. tell tale
of domestic trouble and ~ disaster that would MAKE
the Election pay rise IN tnu'iny r'n.i tell
tI"' They could tel HUNDREDS OF tales. certainly
IN" proper regulation of n" trade At '''' - -"
liquor 3ealcr f,r. .xamri' is r!"r nj n with hat
of the Who lends money at h'Gh rat" ~ inter-
est on the goods and cha't"~ - a." poor. md who
goes anl and on lending -" sam" -iiiI- ani
receiving the until m" article that has
been pledged has been pail f"r ay the unfortnna"
man or woman owning Il - ~" 'N'"nt ~ more Than
twic" i,s original value. ui.:n H. TACT n" nr'!ci"
itse.f becomes Ike the - N" o. min ami hi'
ass lost IN the bargain" There can scarcev }"
m ith svmpnthv felt for the man r woman Who"
only ambition Is 10 organl1" mighty 'r Al short
Intervals what The vulgar ar" hcc's' - call -
mixed ale party anl N 'h- f!rhernnc~ - which
the man who owns llGuor store or hc citizen Nh
runs" A inwnhrnkirg establishment IN the crow !"t
tenement house i.,rc,s - tho East SD" - road,
NJ "a
,ov.,,y stricken lot = occasi0uel ~ ~" bal times.
and who through n fault ~ their own nr" "'lie"f
20 pledge their li''lc belonging YOU f""i indeed a
sincere v'v \ larger rcrc"n''r" t''r 'N"r = 'H'""
who arc today patrons ~ IN" ptwn'h"p- - 'i'
h!g city gr there Tor mon, io l''p k"'r 'n'l ''"
oncs from starving ,ni - pay t. REV. ~ Hry
~ tho officer. or tho charliaho o,ranir,'"rs who
are engaged In ngh'inr the distress ani 'h'y Wi!
tell you that this r -.
A HEAVY RATE o. INTEREST
10 you know what rat" - in,"r"', 'h'y hn,"
Z, pay Well II 10 only ir.f~ -! =, TOR
cent on. f'-ir.h - ,hls sum would 10
counted uSIry - ~" money VIZ" hn' Is
an,rr"iy 81. hu' pt.nhr'k"r WA form -
gollines- i,-S he take N that 49," i,vm'ut = '"i
each year 49, ~" of'ir" - 'ir Nir'r'. " tf'i,.
should give him opportunities Il rf"wns rleh 'hi,
III. law refuses to co'c-l" - th" hr"k"- ''s sE'l
in any Other bis.nc>s' Th.r. j. -.;l"thirr ~" -
p.rr,n. engaged IN this business - '''- ci'N. "ri
81, ia the am ,tin' when 'i" l"W avs Wy ~ ~
ray each year fnr -" frsll'r" Tr", J. T. i1y
fully nni th.y could Afford even :" iav 'sicr AMI
THRICE that amount wl'h lish' i",t' arl .' mrt"
big profits I;ui that w"u'i j." m''' In - h"'Ii"
~ a dangerous experiment 'ftn 0'h"r"-" u
would bring n" r.li"f To- n" cis'pu"r' IT, fnc'. y
might make their condi'pn wore. f"r y l. 'h'y.
poor souls. who IN the last anay-is ~"ulI h" s,i-
died with tho Increase. Tswfhr"k"r~ h'N" bong
arms nni lleth"rlr purses anl Ta'rmnnv Hal i,
near Il: hand \ trip to Alhrny w'n.i T. IL true.
TAX. "A few NOR. hours hu' 'h'n 'fils - All'ny
have hilbert" been r"garl well worth N" ir"u-
bl. Whenever IN. repr.-. natives ~ MS p"w"f'l
interst believed that their hnsn'.s was in ~"
sIi.h,.s, d.gr.. imI-rll,.d Besides ihi- Nc"n~"
pa wnhrnker must nj" a hrnI fpr f@,"" fnr III" hon
e~t and r.-p.ctabie conduct - his hu-in"ss Where
s The poor devil who could b. - chUtlish ~ -
"kick' In face Of This cau.:c and hnding pro-
vision: Set y"u VIII meet 'hpushnis ~ cfdnkN III
just exactly that frame - miDl
THERE ARE rXTR, 'iiNEGfi
They mak- other charges In addition - thiS For
instance" ,Du will have - 10, -, cents u month II
you want - hav. coat or dress hmng ur ~,
keep, hung up while n ~ IN piclgr The" rates
not uniform H. places they "h,fsr only -
cents for the "ntir" period during wh!c' "a" article
I. held In Iawn. In the poorer l"rai'- ~ IN" ftr
Fast SD. they charge what they Ike. Who j. ih'f"
{, prevent them? Who Ia there - enforce IA"
"hon.St and respectable" feature ~ conducting ~"
business 10 which the law PETERS Not the Inllcc-
man certainly for you cannot expect mach from
these Uniformed servants - the city VIII" stand out
-id. and in many cases inside. lluuor stores on
Sundays while roaring train" Is going "n IN open
defiance. Of law tnI-r the STAT. law of isI pawn
brokers permitted To chnrg" on sums - less
than 500 AT the rat" - per cen, n month f"r the
first Fix months and cent for the r"inainins sN
months II the article Is not redeemed "r h" in
torcst pail at the end Of year. the riwnbrrk"r
can 10 what he likes with 1t. on sums ~ over ,l"j
per cent a month IL allowed for the first sx months
and per cent for the second six month";. Goodness
knows IS per cent would be- "A big Interest. but It"
YOU see how skiifully and at the same time how
h1 1artlessly the burden has been distributed. Thr
man who wants a loan ~ more than 81" IL In the
majority Of cases "crook." srendhrift "r n wol-
to.do person who finds himself suddenly pressed
and desires to tide the difficulty f,mIrprarliy