Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-02-20
CHIGA6OS STATE PAUNSHOP
FIRST QUARTER IS OVER
A Loan 0nice Under the Legislative
Act is i'm Successful Operation
This is = Charitable Project That
Helps the Poor and Returns Diyi-
6ends.

months experimenting with a munic-
ipal pawnshop, organized under the
legislative act OF 1899, has thoroughly
convinced directors and stockholders
Of the State Pawners' Society OF the
success of the venture that they are
doubling their stock holdings. 1t is
not usual that men OF affairs invest
their cash in a novel enterprise and
then double their investment before
they receive a dollar OF returns, and
the fact that they have done so is a
substantial commentary on the char
acter and prospects of the new under
taking. AT most, 6 per cent. a year is
all the stockholders can reap from
their investment under the r%estric-
ton of the statute, but that they will
get the limit when dividends are de-
clared at the end of the year is conf
IDENTIFY predicted by the largest invest
ors. The prediction is based largely
on the profit made by the society dur
ing its first quarter and particularly
on the profits Of the last month.
Various reasons are ascribed by the
different stockholders for the interest
they take in the development of the
little enterprise at So Washington
street. Some say they are putting their
money into it because it is a gilt-edged
investment from a financial stand
point; others that they are in it be-
cause 1t is a field wherein a great deal
OF good can be done for a class of peo-
pie who need it. Others combine the
two motives, frankly admitting that
they have the double consciousness
and satisfaction of furthering a public
spirited undertaking and at the same
time reaping a financial reward.
Three months experience has
proved the plan a success" said John
v. Farwell, Jr., president of the soci-
ETY., "and we are doubling our sub
scriptions, so the capital stock may be
increased from $780, 900 to $100,0 900. 1t
Is a success not only from the finan-
cial standpoint, but from the good that
Is being done. During the three
months of it's life the society has
loaned $4,000 to owe 1000 people, and
40 per cent. of the loans have averaged
between 81 and IS. That shows that
we are reaching the poorer class of
people, the people who most need relief
from the oppression of the average
pawnbroker with his confiscatory
rates.
For a business that is not self-ad-
vertising, l should say that the new
venture is a remarkable success, that
the results have far surpassed expecta-
tons. You see, when a patron of a
~pawnshop receives fair treatment he is
not going to tell his neighbors and adj
vertise the place. That is where the
pawnshop business is different from
any other business. Customers of a
good drygoods establishment or a sa-
loon will advertise it, but they won't
advertise the pawnbroker. Despite
this handicap, however, and the re-
strictions of the law, the business
made about 6 per cent on $37, 900, the
average capital in use, during January,
With the full $780, 900 capital, the
business transacted will be about three
times as much, with a corresponding
increase in the gross profits. The ex-
penses will increase scarcely at all
however; merely the salary of an addi-
tional clerk, so the proportion on The
present basis will be large. Not only
will the society be able to pay its {
per cent on the basis of the present
returns, but will have a considerable
surplus for contingencies"
From the point of view of the bank.
81, ! should say that the three months