The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-06-29
worth just about rs much a. another

pawnbroker would advance 81. The
sworn valuer, scarcely glancing at it,
Eight francs (s1.60. The real
Mont-de-Piete clerks have no discre-
ton. Their rule is to advance two
thirds the objects appraised value, sc
they say to the borrower: six francs!"
Still more pitiful is the celebrated
three francs regulation A poor man
comes with a lot of truck in a bundle.
The valuers, sorting 1t over, say:
ployes, faithful to their two-thirds rule.
say: "All this makes only two francs.
Have you nothing else to add%' NO"
says the poo man. Then pack up
your stuff. We are forbidden to make
a loan on less than three francs!"
Whole System a Shame.
Suppose, however, that the borrow
er's pledge is found to justify a three
francs loan or more. The sum, what
ever it be 8 francs, 80 francs OF 800
francs-is always smaller than he
hoped to get. He has but one %resourc
aux petits papiers," in the argot OF
the Faubourgs-to go for the little
the whole syetesn. 1t shows how usury
will find a way in spite OF every leg
islative p~recaution.
No other pawnshop enterprise is al
lowed to compete with the Mont-de-
Piete. 1t is a monopoly for the hor-
| IOWeI OWl SOOu, CFld 6li6 olAy Q PSA
cent. a yea interest and bound, after
selling the unredeemed pledge. to pay
any excess realized over principal and
interest back to the holder of the Mont
de-Piete ticket. No one else in Paris
may lend money on movable objects;
but the law does not forbid me to buy
your ticket, does 1t? Nor does it for
bid me to promise to. sell it back TIC
you for so much at any time within q
rear.
The poor fellow who has just re-
ceived G francs and a ticket for his
o%vereoat CON which a New York pawn
broker would have advanced 30 francs)
sees up and down the street, on both
sides of the Mont-de-Piete, the faunt-
ing signs of half a dozen "Maisons
d'Achats de Observation-Disclosures
lishments for the Purchase of Tickets
He also knows that their sale-with-the-
MISUNDERSTANDING back amounts to 8
loan. FL
The Usurer's Percentage.
He enters. CHANGING at the ticket the
usurer sees that six francs have beer
advanced on an overcoat. Now, the
usurer's conservative rule is to lenc
l franc per 5 francs or fraction there.
of. Therefore. he ought to lend the I'M
lucky one 2 francs more on his ticket
The less he lends the more margin
there will be for interest to run uI
to the real selling value of the over
coat. But if the borrower insists he
will lend him 4 francs or buy the tick.
ct Internationally for 6 francs-just
doubling h sum lent on the object
by the Mont-de-Piete. Jean Colly, the
municipal counselor already referred
to, declares that these establishments
find 1t to their advantage to lend UP
to 60 per cent. of the face value of a
ticket where the sum is small.
AS the usurious loan the form
of a sale With privilege of buying back,
the borrower has no protection. Colly
has collected cases in which 100 I.ar
cent. a year Interest has been paid,
and the ticket forfeited in the end.
Thus it happened that in the year 1904
the Mont-de-Piete, after selling all UNI
redeemed pledges, had 753,2S3 francs
to hand over to the real owners of the
objects pledged and sold at auction.
Well, 41T,9S5 francs of this money
went to the ick buyers.
AT the present hour says NJ. Colly,
ut is certain that more than so per
cent. of all outstanding Mont-de-Piete
tickets are in the hands of these para
sites"
The Value of Jewe!ry.
All this is due to the sloth and con-
servatism of the sworn valuers. AS
we rise in the scale of pledges, to the
realms of new art jewelry with its em-
ployment of precious stones of all kinds
and colors to the realms of diamond
rings N pearl necklaces, the sworn
valuers ought to come out strong. In
the old days it was specifically part
of their office to appreciate the value
of the hand work as we'll as of ma
terial. But half a century ago official
sloth and routine had substituted red
tape rules in the place of such intel
lectual labor. Thus for any object in
1S-carat gold the estimation is 2 francs
per gramme. Mere weight is all that
counts. For objects In silver, no matter
what their beauty, the estimate is SO
francs per kilograms of 2 and 2-10
pounds.
In the past six months the sworn
valuers We're paid $50, 1000 francs for this
intelligent "valuing.' For the same
period the losses charged against them
amounted to but 10000 francs, the ma
jor part of which came from two cele-
DRAFTED jewel frauds in Which they had
allowed themselves to be grossly de-
ceived in their negligent routine.
therefore," says Jean Colly, .tc
cover a loss of 10000 francs the Monte
de-Piete administration pays 100000
francs. We may compare this proceed.
the premium to be paid is twenty
seven times greater han the risk of in
sured against"
So the smaller borrowers of Paris pay
usury and risk to lose their property
while the larger borrowers send their
collateral to London. Is it not a curious
commentary on a system really de-
signed to be philanthropical?
} ~
; Fashions in New York.
There is an overwhelming demand
for .and-r,ade effects, notably in EN-.
{, broidery and III the manipulating o.
: lace" writes Mrs. Helen Berkely-Loyd
in the Delineator for June. Lingerie
effects are introduced wherever posi-.
; BILE and the richest embroidery is Law.
! ished upon every textile, from leethe,
. to lace. 1t is worthy of remark thai
a only high grade elnbroideries are &C.
. ceptcd by smart dressers, and that thf
designs must show a certain degree
of originality. So incessant is the de.
y mand for embroidery, that 1t is seet
!, even on gowns ard coats made who'll,
of lace. Used in the form of band.
: and motifs the embroidery is inserted
q in lace all-over just as lace is inserted