Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-07-04
URN OF THE PAWNBROKER-By Frederic J. Hask

VIZ ASHINGTON, D. c., June 28.-The
w City of Washington has been trying
the experiment of getting along
without pawnshops For half decade there
have been no community "Uncles" i'll the
/ nations capital. Thus has a city of 900
people, city which in it's local affairs is
virtually unafe. ed by politics. been made
the basis of al experiment to determine
whether or not the pawnshop is a necessary
adjunct to it's life and we'll being.
The answer seems to be that it Is, for
Washington seems on the verge Of again
hanging out that sign of the three spheres
which beckOns perennially to the financially
unfortunate and to the imprOvident.
The last of the legitimate "hock" shops in
the District of Columbia passed in 1914. AT
that time a loan shark law went into effect
which cut down the interest rate that might
be charged in the district from three per
cent to one per cent a month. This law
| killed the pawn business in the capital With
the reduced rate of interest, the pawnbrokers
could not make proofit. Most OF them went
out of business entirely, while few located
across the Potomac river in Virginia, within
a ten-minute trolley ride of Washington.
One of the paWnbrOkers who moved across the
river has since been doing the bulk of the
capitals pawn business. When one has want
ed to make loan he has interviewed a rep
resentative of the Virginia pawnbroker in
Washington and, if conditions for completing
the transaction seemed favorable, he has
gone across the bridge.
Now the authorities of the district favor
the return of the ''hock" shops. Especially
is this true of the police department. One
reason for this is the. fact that regulated
pawnshOps are helpful in detecting thefts.
When pawnbrokers did business in Washing
ton more than 25 per cent of stolen jewelry
and other stolen goods was recovered from
the pawnshops. Today less than 3 per cent
is recovered through the secondhand stores,
pool rooms, cheap jeWelry stores and other
kindred places, that have illegitimately come
to serve means by which the thief can
get quick cash for his loot.
Under the old regulations which we're in
effect before the pawnshops were forced out
of business, each paWnbrOker in the district
had to make a daily report to the police de-
partment, listing the goods pawned and also
furnishing a description of the pawner In
this way the police were often able to trace
stolen articles. In case a pawnbroker made
loan on stolen goods which were later
claimed he was bound to turn the goods back
to the owner, osing the sum he had ad-
vanced.
With the pawnshop gone the police had a
slim chance of checking up stolen goods
through the medium of the secondhand
stores and similar places which have been
substituted for the pawnshops. The police
know that many of the secondhand stores,
particularly secondhand clothing stores, do
business on the ''hock" shop plan, but they
are unable to get the goods" on these deal
ers, because of the shrewd manner in which
the secondhand -Aen cover up thelf tracks.
These dealers buy secondhand clothing
with the understanding that the owner can
buy it back at a certain price, which is gen
| orally in excess of the ordinary interest rate
charged by pawnbrokers. They never give a
pawn ticket as evidence of the transaction.
They simply have "gentleman's agreement"
with the customer Often they violate their
end of the agreement, and when the customer
returns to redeem his clothing, the price is
materially advanced. The customer has no
alternative but to pay the increased price.
Here is a case in point:
A young of the capital, ordinarily
prosperous, suddenly thrown into a state
of financial depression. He needed ten dol
lars and he needed it at once. He did not
want his friends to know of his embarrass-
ment so, instead Of borrowing from them, he
took an overcoat, for which he had paid $100,
around the corner to one of the secondhand
shops. He got $40 for it, with the under
standing that he could buy it back again for
$12. He returned two days later for his