The profits of the Credit Municipal are paid over to the "Assistance Publique," the comprehensive term used to indicate the body of charitable foundations. Originally this was the rule throughout France, but now many of the monts de piete are en tirely independent of the charitable institutions. Provincial monts de piete can only be created by decree of the President of the Re public,with the consent of the local Conseil Communal; the mayor is the president. The administrative council is drawn one third each from the Conseil Communal, the governors of charitable societies and the townspeople. A large proportion of the capital required for conducting the institutions has to be raised by loan, while some part of the property they possess is the product of gifts and legacies. The amount to be advanced by a municipal pawnshop is fixed by an official called the commissaire-priseur, who is compelled to load the scales against the borrower, since, should the pledge remain unredeemed and be sold for less than was lent upon it, he has to make good the difference. This official is paid at the rate of 1% upon loans and renewals, and 3% on the amount obtained by the sales of forfeited pledges. The max imum and minimum that may be advanced are fixed. Somewhere between forty and fifty French towns possess municipal pawn shops, a few of which, like those of Grenoble and Montpellier, having been endowed, charge no interest.
Pawnbroking in Germany is con ducted at once by the state, by the municipalities, and by private enterprise; but of all these institutions the state loan office in Berlin is the most interesting. It dates from 1834, and the working capital was found, and still continues to be provided, by the Prussian State Bank. The profits are invested, and the interest devoted to charitable purposes. The maximum and minimum rates of interest are fixed, but the rate varies with the situation of the money market ; the private pawnshops usually charge a higher rate than the state office. Two-thirds of the estimated value is the usual extent of a loan ; four-fifths is advanced on silver, and five-sixths on fine gold. Before the inflation which followed the World War state and municipal bonds might be pledged up to a maximum of 115o, the advance being 8o% of the value, and a fixed interest of 6% was charged upon these securities. During and after the inflation securities could not be pledged ; now, how ever, money is again being advanced upon state bonds.
The pawnbroking laws of Austria and Hungary are somewhat similar to those which prevail in England. Free trade exists, and the private trader has to obtain a government concession and deposit caution-money varying in amount from £8o to £boo, according to the size of the town. He has, however, to compete with the monts de piete or Versatzaemer, which are sometimes municipal and sometimes state institutions. The chief of these
is the imperial pawn office of Vienna, which was founded with charitable objects by the emperor Joseph I., in 1707, and one half of the annual surplus has still to be paid over to the Vienna poor f und, though these payments are at present suspended. Here, as in Berlin, the profits are relatively small. Interest which, after the War, was very high, is calculated in fortnightly periods, how ever speedily redemption may follow upon pawning. Six months, with an additional period of six months, is the maximum period. The Hungarian state and municipal institutions appear, on the whole, to compete somewhat more successfully with the private firms than is the case in Vienna. The practice in Bohemia, Mor avia and Silesia is still governed by the old Austrian law. In Czecho-Slovakia it conforms to the former Hungarian laws.
In Italy, the "country of origin" of the mont de piete, the institution still flourishes. Four-fifths of the value is lent upon gold, one-half upon precious stones, and two-thirds upon other articles. The interest is 7% on all sums. The loans are of two types, one for a period of three months, the other for one year. A little less is lent if the owner of the pledge asks for a loan for a year. At every renewal the pledge is again estimated and if its value has diminished the debtor can choose between paying off the loan, having the object sold, or paying the difference be tween the first and the second estimate if he insists on a re newal. A fortnight must elapse after the day on which the pay ment is due before the pledge can be sold. The difference between the selling price and the sum lent goes to the owner. .In addition to the interest the mont de piete retains 1% for the ticket, what ever the amount lent. The mont de pietes agencies retain an extra 2% on the loans. Private agencies have been suppressed.
The monts de piete in Spain have for a generation past been inseparably connected with the sav ings 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, a century after his death, the mont de piete began to receive the sums de posited 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 six 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; 7% is usually charged upon jewellery. Private pawnbrokers are also very numerous, especially in Madrid; but their usual charges amount to about 6o% per annum.