CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



its earlier years is shewn by the following table, 

 from the earlier edition of Mr and Mrs S. C. 

 Hall's work on Ireland : 



In the Report for 1842, the only allusion to the 

 Limerick mont de pie"te" is a complaint on its 

 imperfectly kept accounts. In that for 1^43, it is 

 spoken of as -winding up its affairs. In 1844, 

 we have a Report from several gentlemen ap- 

 pointed to investigate the state of its affairs. From 

 this Report we learn that the total amount of 

 assets at that time was .4200, while the amount 

 owing to depositors must have been more than 

 double that sum. The gentlemen reporting re- 

 commend that the business of the institution be 

 carried on ; but it henceforward vanishes from the 

 Reports of the Loan-fund Board. The rates 

 charged at the monts de pie"te" appear to have 

 tallied pretty closely with those charged under 

 the various pawnbroking Acts now in force, but 

 certain of the conditions with respect to the 

 amounts advanced and the repayments of the 

 same, were more favourable to the pledger than 

 would have been the case had he gone to a regular 

 pawnbroker. In 1847, when apparently at the 

 height of its operations, the mont de pie'te" of Tarr- 

 deragee suddenly stopped why, we are not told. 

 In 1841, there were eight monts de pie"te" in Ireland. 

 By 1848 they had all vanished, except one the 

 small establishment at Portadown which lingered 

 on until 1853, and then also passed away. We 

 observe in the Reports an inclination to attribute 

 the failure of these establishments to the circum- 

 stance that the better class of pledgers preferred to 

 go to pawnbrokers, and pay more for accommoda- 

 tion from them, believing that they enjoyed greater 

 secrecy. This, however, does not seem to be the 

 fact. The average, per pledge, in the mont de 

 pie"te" of Limerick, for example, appears to have 

 been 35. 8d. ; while the average, per pledge, of all 

 the pawnbrokers doing business in Limerick, in 

 the year 1852, was 2s. yd. The monts de pie"te" 

 failed for two obvious reasons, which, in some 

 respects, resolve themselves into one : First, They 

 were charities, and being such, their management 

 wanted that energy and vigilance which can only, 

 on a large scale, be got from most parties under 

 the stimulus of personal interest Secondly, They 

 had to compete with the pawnbrokers, so stimu- 

 lated, and possessing, moreover, greater experience. 

 In such circumstances, a charitable establishment 

 of this description would require to charge more, 

 instead of less, than a merely commercial one. 



Pawnbroking. 



Many pawnbrokers (perhaps most of them) 

 deal in a most honest manner, assisting the police 

 in the discovery of theft, and refusing loans 

 to young or intoxicated persons. Nay, some 

 mav take the trouble of verifying a suspicion that 



'524 



their customer has come dishonestly by his pledges, 

 or makes a bad use of the loan upon them. Such 

 considerations, however, do not make the pawn- 

 office, or even the mont de pie'te', an unmixed 

 good. The evil of pawnbroking, before which 

 every other abuse of it sinks into insignificance, is 

 the hand-to-mouth system of domestic economy 

 which it fosters, and the misery, destitution, de- 

 gradation, and crime that are the consequences. 

 To assist in eradicating these terrible evils of 

 modern society, the pawnbroker or administrator 

 of the mont de pidte" must inform himself of the 

 domestic affairs of his customers. He must judge 

 whether a loan be required for really useful 

 purposes, and whether it would not be more 

 advisable to refuse it. If inevitable, though for a 

 purpose which ought to have been foreseen and 

 provided for, the loan may be granted in the 

 meantime, but on the understanding that the next 

 application will be refused, whatever the conse- 

 quences. This cannot be done by any merely 

 commercial establishment, but it is very doubtful 

 if it is done efficiently even by the mont de 

 pidte", notwithstanding its great political privileges. 

 Regular pawnbrokers are required to have a license, 

 which costs 7, IDS. per annum, and are compelled 

 to carry on their business under certain stringent 

 regulations, by which they are prevented from 

 receiving pledges except during certain specified 

 hours, or from charging more than certain rates 

 of interest 



Illicit pawning is largely carried on in all parts 

 of the United Kingdom, and is perhaps the most 

 expensive mode of raising money to which the 

 labouring-classes can possibly resort. In England, 

 illicit pawning is chiefly carried on at what are 

 termed ' leaving-shops,' while in Scotland 'wee 

 pawning ' is carried on by brokers ostensibly by 

 buying or selling. They receive articles nomin- 

 ally as bought, but which there is at least a 

 tacit understanding the seller will have an oppor- 

 tunity of repurchasing at a certain well understood 

 increase of price, reckoned according to amount 

 and time. Most, if not all of them, will come 

 under an obligation tacit, of course that the 

 article they are purchasing will be kept and re- 

 sold to the seller at an understood rate of profit 

 The general understanding as to charge is a 

 penny per shilling per week ; and it is understood 

 that the article will be sold to some one else if 

 not taken away within a month. The purpose 

 for which the money is sought is perhaps to 

 purchase provisions oftener for drink and the 

 broker is resorted to instead of the pawnbroker, 

 because the article is one which the pawnbroker 

 will not take, or will not give so high an advance 

 upon. The mode of business and rates of charges 

 in illegal pawning are the same in England and 

 Scotland. The actual money loss to the cus- 

 tomers of these places is very large, and repre- 

 sents an amount of misexpenditure frightful to 

 contemplate. 



THE PROVIDENT DISPENSARY. 



On the subject of medical attendance, the work- 

 ing-man, in ordinary circumstances, may well be 

 at a loss how to act ; for, on the one hand, when 

 he calls in a doctor on account of himself or his 

 family, he is oppressed by the high charges for at- 

 tendance and medicine ; and, on the other, if he 



