TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS, 93 



State of the Magazine of Pawned Goods at Paris, 31st December 1840. 



Average Daily Transactions. 



Connected with the Paris Mont de Piete are four depots managed by commission- 

 ers, who have a certain profit on every transaction. The importance of such an ac- 

 commodation appears from the following estimate : — 



In every 100 pawns, 9 are by the public, and 91 by commission. 



100 renewals, 40 by the public, and 60 by commission. 



100 releases, 44 by the public, and 56 by commission. 



The interest charged by the Paris Mont de Piete is 9 per cent., and one-half per 

 cent, for valuation. The number of watches in pawn is generally from 250,000 to 

 300,000. There were over 6000 mattresses in store, and the directors had resolved 

 to admit no more. Mr. Porter concluded by stating, that in 1839 a sum equivalent 

 to 7821Z. 13s. 'id. had been given from the Paris Mont de Piete for the support of the 

 hospitals, and expressed his readiness to correspond with any persons interested in 

 such institutions. 



On the Loan Funds in Ireland. By Henry John Porter, F.S.S., 



Tandragee, Ireland. 



The interest excited by the author's paper on Pawnbroking. read at Glagow, in- 

 duced him to procure a statistical account of the operation of loan funds in Ireland, 

 together with the opinions of the directors as to the benefits conferred, the diflS- 

 culties to be overcome, and the evils, if any, which may arise from their opera-, 

 tion. He presented tables of 215 loan funds, three of which were reported to 

 have ceased operation since the accounts were received. It was necessary, be- 

 fore entering on the subject, to allude to a system which was general in Ireland, 

 and which had only been partially checked by the working of the loan funds. It is 

 explained in the following extract from the Report of the Ballycastle Loan Fund: — 

 " It was a common practice to supply meal at a price one-third above the market. 

 Potatoes were also supplied during the cheap season, an engagement being entered 

 into by the buyer to pay the summer price, whatever it might be ; nor was this all, 

 for an interest was charged on the promissory note at the rate of 6 per cent. Again, 

 if a poor man required a cow or a horse, he applied to one of the money-lenders, 

 who either purchased it for him, charging him \l. for the bargain, and sometimes 

 more, or counted down the money asked for by way of tender, and then abstracted 

 \l. for the compliment, in either case putting the borrower to the cost of Is. Qd. for 

 the promissory note, and requiring him to pay 6 per cent, interest. In like manner, 

 weavers were obligedeither to take yarn from thedealers considerably above the market 

 price, or if, as was often done, they borrowed 20s. for one month, or between two 

 markets, to purchase yarn for themselves, they were charged Is. at least, and fre- 

 quently more, for such accommodation." The funds are raised by deposits, and it 



