Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/207

 PAWNBROKER the contract of pledge, and if the pledgee vol- untarily parts with his possession he loses all lien or right to hold the pawn, this does not apply where the pawnee, in good faith, for a special reason, and for a limited time, returns the pawn to the pawnor, reserving all his rights over it. The pawnor may in that case be re- garded as the agent of the pawnee, and as holding it for him. A pawnee, who takes a pawn as security for a specific debt or debts, cannot hold it as security for other debts from the pawnor, unless by a bargain between them. Until a comparatively recent date, nothing seems to have been given in pawn, at least within the recognition of the common law, but personal chattels. But now all personal prop- erty, all choses in action, and even patent rights or copyrights, and policies of insurance, may be given either in pawn or in mortgage. PAWNBROKER, one who lends money, at a certain rate of interest, on the security of goods deposited with him, having power to sell the goods if the principal and interest of the money lent be not repaid within a specified time. Among the first who made a business of lend- ing money on pledges were probably Jews and the Cahorsins or Caursins. The latter are sup- posed by most writers to have been natives of Cahors in France, but in an edict of one of the French kings they are called foreigners. In the course of the 13th century Italian mer- chants from Lombardy established themselves in England and France, and afterward in the other countries of Europe. They were bank- ers and money lenders as well as merchants, and on account of the precariousness of credit took pledges in security for their loans. They formed powerful companies, and in time be- came the bankers of the kings and nobles to whom they were indebted for protection. Ed- ward I. farmed out to them the customs of his kingdom in consideration of a loan, and Edward III. and Richard II. pawned to them their crown jewels. Lombard street in Lon- don and the rue des Lombards in Paris became financial centres, and the name Lombard the synonyme of money lender and usurer. In the 15th century efforts were made to deliver the needy from their extortions by the establish- ment of monts de piete (see MONT DE PiisTfi), and in 1530 the Lombards were expelled from England, and in the next century from France. The modern pawnbrokers' sign, the three golden balls, is supposed to be derived from the arms of the corporation of Lombards, or from the armorial bearings of the Medici fam- ily, who were among the wealthiest of the Lombard merchants. Pawnbrokers were first recognized in English law by the act of the first year of James I. In 1871 there were 3,540 pawnbrokers in London. By the census of 1870 there were 384 in the United States, but the actual number must have been much greater. PAWNEE. I. A S. E. county of Nebraska,, bordering on Kansas ; area, 432 sq. m. ; pop. PAWNEES 197 in 1870, 4,171. The Atchison and Nebraska railroad crosses the N. E. corner. The surface is diversified ; the soil, particularly along the streams, is fertile. The N. part is rocky, and there are quarries of limestone and beds of bi- tuminous coal. The chief productions in 1870 were 123,249 bushels of wheat, 232,720 of Indian corn, 74,431 of oats, 39,577 of potatoes, 75,187 Ibs. of butter, and 8,709 tons of hay. There were 1,642 horses, 1,660 milch cows, 2,778 other cattle, 847 sheep, and 2,615 swine. Capital, Pawnee City. II. A S. W. county of Kansas, intersected by the Arkansas river and its Pawnee fork; area, 900 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 179. It is traversed by the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad. The surface consists of rolling prairies, with a fertile soil. Capital, Lamed. PAWNEES, a warlike tribe of American In- dians, long resident in Nebraska on the Platte and its tributaries, w r ith occasional sojourns on the Kansas. They were first heard of through the Illinois, and the name is of that language. Marquette noted several bands on his map in 1673. They have long been divided into four bands: Tsawe (Grand Pawnees), Tskitkakish or Kattahawkees (Republican Pawnees), Pe- towera or Tapahowerats (Tapage Pawnees), and the Skere (Pawnee Mahas or Loups). They were constantly at war with the Sioux and other nations, and, being considered irre- claimable savages, were permitted to be held as slaves in Canada when bought from other tribes ; wherefore any Indian held in bondage was called a Pani. They were hostile to the Spaniards before and after the cession of Lou- isiana to the United States, but have always been friendly to the Americans. They lived in villages of earth-covered lodges, cultivating a little corn, beans, melons, &c., but going off regularly to the buffalo plains. They shaved the head except the scalp lock; the women were decently dressed. From time to time they sacrificed prisoners to the sun to obtain good crops, but this was finally stopped among the Skere, who continued it latest, by the cour- age of Petalesharoo about 1820. Among their sports was a peculiar one of hurling a javelin through a ring sent rolling along the ground. Pike in 1806 estimated the population of three villages at 6,223, with nearly 2,000 warriors, expert horsemen, with some firearms. They fought fiercely with the Tetans, Arapahoes, and Kiowas, as well as with the Sacs and Foxes. The removal of the Delawares to lands between the Platte and the Kansas led to war with that tribe, who in 1832 burned the Great Pawnee village on Republican fork. Smallpox soon after carried off a large part of the tribe. By treaty of Oct. 9, 1833, they sold lands south of the Nebraska and agreed to remain north of that river and west of Lpup fork. Provision was then made for education, and they were soon possessed of comfortable houses, good farms, and schools ; but all this was checked by the Sioux, who attacked them