THE HISTORY OF COMMERCE
whole, however, Tokugawa rule was marked by freedom from interference in such matters.[1]
Under the conditions here noted the business of pawnbroking assumed large dimensions. Anything might be pawned, from a landed estate to a pair of wooden clogs, and the sign-board of a shop or the implements of a hair-dresser were taken by a pawnbroker as representing the house of their owner. The term of pawn—except in the case of land—was from three to eight months, and the legal limit of interest varied in different epochs, being two and seven-tenths per cent monthly for silver and gold and four per cent for copper, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, whereas in the beginning of the nineteenth century it was from one to two per cent, large sums paying a heavier rate than small. The operations of the pawnbroker were strictly regulated. Anyone offering an article for the first time had to write his name and address on a paper stamped with his seal, and had also to provide a reputable security, on whom devolved the duty of redeeming and restoring to its owner a stolen article which had been received by the pawnbroker in good faith. If a pawnbroker disposed of an article prior to the expiration of the term of pledge, and was unable to restore it to its owner, he had to pay to the latter twice the amount originally advanced. Other rules governed the business, but enough has been said to
- ↑ See Appendix, note 60.
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