PAVEMENT 



4531 



PAWNBROKER 



are subjects of earnest study by modern social 

 workers. Pauperism can exist only when the 

 agencies for the prevention of relief of poverty 

 are inadequate to the situation. Poverty re- 

 sults chiefly from improvident methods of liv- 

 ing (indulgence in drink, extravagance, etc.), 

 misfortune (sickness, accident, loss of sight or 

 hearing, death of the breadwinner, etc.) and old 

 age; and the final result of the imperfect han- 

 dling of these conditions is pauperism. 



r the heading CHARITY, in these volumes, 

 will be found a discussion of the methods em- 

 ployed in modern times to alleviate the conditions 

 of the poor. Old age pensions, juvenile courts 

 and social settlements are all important agencies 

 of relief, and all operate against the increase of 

 pauperism. Each of these is described under its 

 proper heading. 



Consult Devine's Misery and Its Causes; Webb's 

 The Prevention of Destitution. 



PAVE'MENT, a hard, durable covering ap- 

 plied to a road or pathway, to afford easier 

 transportation for heavy loads or for pleasure 

 vehicles. A description of the various kinds of 

 pavements is given in the article ROADS AND 

 STREETS (which see). 



PA VI A, pahve'ah, the seat of one of the 

 oldest universities in Europe, is a city of 

 Northern Italy. In the days of the ancient 

 Romans it was known as TICINO, and it was a 

 place of considerable importance under the 

 early Roman emperors. With the rest of Italy 

 it shared in the wars and disturbances of the 

 Middle Ages, and during Napoleon's invasion 

 of the country was assaulted and plundered 

 (1796). 



Modern Pa via is the capital of the province 

 of Pavia. It is situated on the Ticino River. 

 > above the point where that stream 

 joins the Po, and eighteen miles south of Milan, 

 suburb of Ticino, across the river, is con- 

 1 with thr hirger city by a covered granite 

 bridge built in the fourteenth century, and by a 

 modem iron railway bridge. The visitor in Pavia 

 would probably be impressed by its many in- 

 teresting churches; the oldest of these, the 

 foundations of which were laid in the eleventh 

 century, is the Church of San Michcle. In a 

 beautiful chapel of the cathedral Church of San 

 Martino is a sarcophagus containing the ashes 

 of Saint Augustine, and north of the city is 

 the finest monastery in the world, the Certosa 

 di Pavia. 



i "Diversity of Pavia, the outgrowth of a 

 law school that was founded before the twelfth 

 century, has an enrolment of over 1,000 in nor- 

 iiKil } ,n>. There are several other educational 



institutions, a museum of paintings and antiqui- 

 ties and several interesting monuments and 

 statues. The place is still surrounded by its 

 ancient walls, and has the general aspect of a 

 city of olden times. Its medieval castle is now 

 used as a barracks. Industrially, Pavia is 

 known for its manufactures of machinery, 

 chemicals, leather and organs, and for its trade 

 in wines, silk, oil and cheese. Population of 

 city and suburbs, 1914, estimated, 53,781. 



PAWN 'BROKER. In every large city there 

 are people engaged in loaning small sums of 

 money on articles of clothing, watches, jewelry 

 and other personal effects that are left with 

 them as security. Such a man is a pawnbroker, 

 and the articles left with him are pawned. If 

 the person receiving the loan does not repay it 

 with interest within a specified time after the 

 debt becomes due, the pawnbroker has the 

 right to sell the article left with him. 



When properly conducted pawnbroking is a 

 lawful business, and it is beneficial to people with 

 limited means who cannot borrow money at a 

 bank on the security they are able to give. But 

 until very recently all pawnbroker's offices were 

 private enterprises, and many abuses arose, such 

 as charging exorbitant rates of interest, failing 

 to credit the borrower with amounts paid on 

 his loan, and finally selling the article pawned 

 when the loan had been more than paid. In 

 large cities there were always some unscrupu- 

 lous pawnbrokers who would receive stolen 

 goods, knowing them to be such, and sell them 

 at a large profit. These abuses became so gen- 

 eral that legislation regulating pawnbroking has 

 been enacted in every state in the Union and 

 in the Canadian provinces. In some states 

 eities are allowed to regulate the business by 

 city ordinance, but in most cases the state law 

 prevails, assuring uniform practice. 



In general, these regulations require the 

 pawnbroker to keep a record book in which 

 y article received is described, and to sub- 

 mit this book on demand to the police or other 

 officers having authority to demand it. They 

 are not allowed to receive goods from one 

 under the influence of drink nor under a speci- 

 fied age, nor to sell the goods until after the ex- 

 piration of the time for their redemption. On 

 account of the expense incurred in making small 

 loans, a high rate of interest is usually allowed, 

 but this is usually limited to one per cent a 

 month. In Illinois a state pawnbroker associa- 

 tion was formed in 1898, and it opened offices in 

 Chicago. The association does a legitimate 

 business and pays the stockholders a good rate 



