PAWNBROKING PAYER. 



153 



PAWNBROKING is the lending of money for a 

 certain rate of interest on the security of goods, such 

 as jewelry, apparel, utensils, or tools, deposited with 

 the lender. Practically it has existed since a remote 

 antiquity, but it became a recognized business in 

 Europe during the Middle Ages. The merchants of 

 Lombardy who established themselves in the principal 

 cities of England and the Continent were in the habit 

 of lending money on pledges of jewels and costly arti- 

 cles. In course of time the business passed to other 

 hands, but the pawnbroker's familiar sign of the three 

 gilt balls is traced to the coat of arms of the Medici 

 family, who were the most enterprising of the Lom- 

 bardy merchants. Their business was with kings, 

 nobles, and wealthy merchants, but as its advantages 

 became known, efforts were made to extend such bene- 

 fits to other classes. Soon the poor, too ignorant to 

 understand, too weak to maintain their rights, were ! 

 grossly oppressed by the usurers. Christian charity j 

 came to their relief and established in Italy in the ' 

 latter part of the fifteenth century the numte dipietd. 

 In the course of the next century such institutions were 

 found in France, under the name mont de pieti. These 

 were at first charitable institutions, which charged 

 only a rate sufficient to cover the necessary expenses. 

 In Italy they have maintained this character until the 

 present time. In France and other European countries 

 they have been under thecontrolof the govern nient since 

 the middle of the eighteenth century. Their transac- 

 tions are strictly regulated by law and administered by 

 public agents. In Paris there is one principal estab- 

 lishment and three auxiliary offices. There are also 

 authorized commissioners stationed in different parts 

 of the city, but whose transactions do not bind the ad- 

 ministration until ratified at the central office. Here 

 there is a board of appraisers ; and the loan is limited 

 to two-thirds of their valuation of the article, except in 

 case of articles of gold or silver, when four-fifths may 

 be advanced. The least sum lent is three francs, but 

 there is no upper limit to the demand. The commis- 

 sioners, who canyon four-fiflhs of the business, receive 

 2 per cent, for each pledge effected and 1 per cent, for 

 each redemption. The rate of interest is 9 per cent. 

 per annum, but the first month's instalment must be 

 paid in advance, and the rest fortnightly. The loan js 

 for a year, and if the article is not then redeemed it is 

 sold within a month at public sale ; in some cases the 

 loan may be renewed for another year. Sometimes 

 too the pawner is allowed to demand the sale of his 

 pawn before the expiration of a year. For the main- 

 tenance of the business certain revenues from other 

 sources may be drawn upon, yet there is generally a 

 small balance in favor of the administration. 



In England pawnbroking is conducted in private 

 establishments which are regulated by law. Attempts 

 at establishing mmts de pitli have never succeeded. 

 In the United States the business is regulated by the 

 law of the several States. Usually the mayor of a city 

 has the sole power of issuing a license to a pawnbroker, 

 who is required to be a person of good repute. In 

 New York the rate is limited to 25 per cent, per 

 annum, on sums less than $25, and to 7 per cent, on 

 sums beyond that amount. Yet the rate usually 

 charged is 3 per cent, a month and there are furthe_r 

 charges for storage, safe-keeping, etc., which materi- 

 ally reduce the sum received by the pawner. The 

 unredeemed pledges are required to be sold at public 

 auction, and the law also declares that the amount 

 received for any article over the pawnbroker's just 

 claims shall be returned to the depositor. The shops 

 are generally found in the business streets of the 

 poorer districts of the cities, and are more used by the 

 foreign population than by the native-born. The keepers 

 as a rule avoid receiving stolen goods, but there are 

 persons, known as "fences," who make a business of 

 receiving and disposing of stolen property, and for 

 this purpose profess to Keep a pawn-shop, (j. P. L.) 

 PAWNEES, a tribe of American Indians, who 

 VOL. IV. K 



originally resided chiefly in Nebraska, but extended 

 into Kansas and Texas. They were noted on Mar- 

 quette's map in 1673. From them the Arickarees 

 (q. v.) separated and wandered northward. Some 

 tribes formerly existing in Louisiana are also thought 

 to belong to the same family. The Pawnees (or Pani) 

 proper were bold hunters, excellent horsemen, and 

 fierce warriors. They carried on constant war with the 

 Sioux, Tetans, Arapahoes, Sacs and Foxes, and other 

 tribes. They frequently offered human sacrifices to 

 the sun, and this practice was continued in the present 

 century. They lived in lodges covered with earth, and 

 the women cultivated some grain, but the men hunted 

 the buffalo. When the Delawares were removed to 

 the land south of the Platte they came in collision 

 with the Pawnees, and in ] 832 burnt the Great Pawnee 

 village on Republican Fork. By treaty with the 

 United States in 1833 the Pawnees gave up their claim 

 to land south of the Platte, received aid, and for a 

 time made notable progress in civilization, but this 

 excited the envy of their hereditary enemies, the 

 Sioux, who finally drove them from their villages. The 

 II. S. Government having withdrawn aid and protec- 

 tion, the tribe was soon reduced to half its original 

 number. In 1861 they furnished many scouts to the 

 Union army and took part in the campaign in Min- 

 nesota against the Sioux. The latter, after being re- 

 duced to peace, sought revenge on the hapless Pawnees, 

 who were compelled to sell their lands and emigrate to 

 a reservation in the Indian Territory. The total amount 

 of this land is 283,020 acres (100,000 tillable), and when 

 the entire tribe was finally removed to it in 1876 they 

 numbered 2026. Part of the land, 53,000 acres, was 

 purchased from the Creeks by the [L S. Government 

 with the proceeds of the sale of Pawnee lands in 

 Nebraska, out the title has not yet been transferred to 

 the Pawnees. The other part was ceded by the Cher- 

 okees to the U. S. Government in trust for the Paw- 

 nees. Under Pros. Grant's administration the mis- 

 sionary work among the Pawnees was assigned to 

 the Society of Friends. They are peaceable and wejl 

 disposed, but have steadily diminished in number, until 

 in 1887 they were reported as only 918, of whom 800 

 wore citizen s dress. They cultivated 2094 acres and 

 had 2597 under fence. They cultivated wheat, corn, 

 melons, and vegetables. They had 1400 horses, 575 

 cattle, 200 swine. 



PAWTUCKET, a city of Rhode Island, in Provi- 

 dence co., is on Pawtucket River at its falls, 4 miles 

 N. of Providence, and 40 miles from Boston, and on 

 the Boston and Providence, the Providence and Wor- 

 cester, Old Colony, New York and New England, and 

 the Moshassuck Valley Railroads. It has 4 hotels, 3 

 national banks, 3 savings banks, 1 daily and 2 weekly 

 newspapers, 25 churches, numerous schools, including 

 a high-school, and a public library. The falls give 

 abundant water-power, which is largely utilized in 

 cotton-, woollen-, hair-cloth-, thread-, and other mills, 

 the total establishments being nearly one hundred. 

 Here Samuel Slater first introduced cotton-manufac- 

 turing into the United States. Pawtucket is lighted 

 with gas and electricity, and has excellent water-works 

 and a paid fire-department. Its property is valued at 

 $20,000,000 ; the public debt is $1,100,000, chiefly due 

 to the water-works; the yearly expenses are about 

 $250,000. Pawtucket was settled about 1640, and be- 

 longed to Massachusetts until 1862. It was incorpor- 

 ated as a town in 1874, and as a city in 1886. The 

 population of the township in 1880 was 19,630. 



PAYER, JULIUS, BARON, an Austrian explorer, 

 was born at Schonau, Sept. 1, 1 842. He was educated 

 at the Military Academy in Vienna, and entered the 

 service as lieutenant in 1 859. Foi a time he was pro- 

 fessor of history in the Academy and again was en- 

 gaged in scientific work in the Austrian Alps. In 1869 

 he took part in the Polar expedition under Capt. 

 Koldewey, which explored the cast coast of Greenland 

 and penetrated into the interior. Returning to Bremen 



