fee” of 2%, which is deducted from the loan. Private pawnshops also exist in Italy, under police authority; but they charge very high interest.
The monts de piété in Spain have for a generation past been inseparably connected with the savings banks. We have already seen that the institution owes its origin in that country to the charitable exertions of a priest who charged no interest, and the system grew until in 1840, aSpain and Portugal. century after his death, the mont de piété began to receive the sums deposited in the savings bank, which had just been established, for which it paid 5% interest. In 1869 the two institutions were united. This official pawnshop charges 6% upon advances which run for periods varying from four to twelve months, according to the nature of the article pledged, and a further month's grace is allowed before the pledges are sold by auction. Private pawnbrokers are also very numerous, especially in Madrid; but their usual charges amount to about 60% per annum. They appear, however, to derive advantage from making larger advances than their official rivals, and from doing business during more convenient hours. In Portugal the monte pio is an amalgamation of bank, benefit society and pawnshop. Its business consists chiefly in lending money upon marketable securities, but it also makes advances upon plate, jewelry and precious stones, and it employs officially Ucensed valuers. The rate of interest varies with the bank rate, which it slightly exceeds, and the amount advanced upon each article is about three-fourths of its certified value. There is in Portugal a second class of loan establishment answering exactly to the English pawnshop. The pawnbroker is compelled to deposit a sum, in acceptable securities, equal to the capital he proposes to embark, and the register of his transactions must be submitted quarterly to the chief of the police for examination. As regards small transactions, there appears to be no legal limit to the rate of interest. The sale of unredeemed pledges is governed by the law affecting the " monte pio geral."
In Russia the state maintains two pawnbroking establishments, one at St Petersburg and the other at Moscow, but only articles of gold and silver, precious stones and ingots of the precious metals are accepted by them. Advances are made upon such securities at 6% perRussia. annum, and the amounts of the loans are officially limited. Loans run for twelve months, with a month's grace before unredeemed pledges are put up to auction. The bulk of this class of business in Russia is, however, conducted by private companies, which advance money upon all descriptions of movable property except stocks and shares. The interest charged is not allowed to exceed 1% per month, but there is an additional charge of 12% per month for "insurance and safe keeping." The loan runs for a year, with two months grace for redemption before sale. There are also a certain number of pawnshops conducted by individuals, who find it very difficult to compete with the companies. These shops can only be opened by a police permit, which runs for five years, and security, varying from £100 to £700, has to be deposited; 2% per month is the limit of interest fixed, and two months grace is allowed for redemption after the period for which an article is pledged.
Pawnbroking in Denmark dates from 1753, when the Royal Naval Hospital was granted the monopoly of advancing money on pledges and of charging higher interest than the law permitted. The duration of a loan is three months, renewals being allowed. The oldDenmark and Norway. law was extended in 1867, and now all pawnbrokers have to be licensed by the municipalities and to pay a small annual licence fee. The rate of interest varies from 6 to 12% according to the amount of the loan, which must not be less than 7d., and unredeemed pledges must be sold by auction. In Sweden there are no special statutes affecting pawnbroking, with the exception of a proclamation by the governor of Stockholm prohibiting the lending of money upon articles which may be suspected of having been stolen. Individuals still carry on the business on a small scale, but the bulk of it is now conducted by companies, which give general satisfaction. For many years there was in Stockholm a municipal establishment charging 10% for loans paid out of the city funds. The cost of administration was, however, so great that there was an annual loss upon its working, and the opportunity was taken to abolish it when, in 1880, a private company was formed called the “Pant Aktie Bank,” to lend money on furniture and wearing apparel at the rate of 3 ore per krone a month, and 2 ore per krone a month on gold, silver and other valuables: a krone, which equals 1s. 112d., contains 100 ore. Some years later an opposition was started which charged only half these rates, with the result that the original enterprise reduced its interest to the same level, charging, however, 2 ore per krone per mensem for bulky articles—a figure which is now usual for pledges of that description. The money is lent for three months, and at the end of five months the pledge, if unredeemed, is sold by auction under very carefully prescribed conditions. In Norway a police hcence is required for lending money on pawn where the amount advanced does not exceed £4, 10s. Beyond that sum no licence is necessary, but the interest charged must not exceed such a rate as the king may decide.
The fate of pawnbroking in Switzerland appears to be not very dissimilar from that of the Jew who is fabled to have once started in business at Aberdeen. Nevertheless the cantons of Bern and Zurich have elaborate laws for the regulation of the business. In Zurich theSwitzerland. broker must be licensed by the cantonal government, and the permit can be refused only when the applicant is “known to be a person undeserving of confidence.” Regular books have to be kept, which must be at all times open to the inspection of the police, and not more than 1% interest per month must be charged. A loan runs for six months, and unredeemed pledges may be sold by auction a month after the expiration of the fixed period, and then the sale must take place in the parish in which the article was pledged. No more than two persons at a time have ever been licensed under this law, the business being unprofitable owing to the low rate of interest. In the canton of Bern there were once two pawnbrokers. One died and the other put up his shutters. The Zurich cantonal bank, however, conducts a pawnbroking department, which lends nothing under 4s. or over £40 without the special sanction of the bank commission. Loans must not exceed two-thirds of the trade value of the pledge, but 80% may be lent upon the intrinsic value of gold and silver articles. The establishment makes practically no profit. The Swiss disinclination to go to the pawnshop is, perhaps, accounted for in some measure by the growing number of dealers in second-hand articles, to whom persons in want of ready money sell outright such things as are usually pledged, in the hope of subsequently buying them back. Since, however, the dealer is at liberty to ask his own price for repurchase, the expectation is often illusory, and can usually be fulfilled only upon ruinous terms. (J. P.-B.)
PAWNEE (perhaps from the native word for “horn,” in allusion
to their scalping lock, which was " dressed " so as to stand
straight up), a tribe of North-American Indians of Caddoan
stock. They formerly lived on the Platte river in Nebraska.
They call themselves Skihiksihiks (“ men of men ”). They
were a brave, war-loving tribe, whose history was one of continual
strife with their neighbours. In 1823 their village was burned
by the Delawares, and in 1838 the tribe suffered severely from
small-pox, the death-roll being, it is said, 2000. By treaty in
1833 they had ceded their territory south of the Platte, and in
1858 they surrendered all their remaining land except a strip
on the Loup River. Here they hved tiU 1874, when they moved
to a reservation in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), where they
now are.
PAWTUCKET, a city of Providence county, Rhode Island, U.S.A., on the Blackstone river (known below the Pawtucket Falls here as the Pawtucket or Seekonk river), 4 m. N. of Providence, and near the city of Central Falls. Pop. (1905, state census), 43,381, of whom 14,369 were foreign-born, including 4273 English, 3484 Irishj, 2706 French Canadians, and 1198
