hand, for money laide out and lent upon Usurie; as now of late yeeres hathe, and is used by a number of citizens assuminge unto themselves the name of Brokers and Brokerage, as though the same were an honeste and lawfull trade, misterie, or occupation, tearminge and naminge themselves Brokers, whereas in truth they are not, abusinge the true and honeste ancient name and trade of Broker and Brokerage; and forasmuch as many citizens, freemen of the Citie, being men of manuall occupation, have lefte and given over, and daylie doe leave and give over, their handie and manuall occupations; and have and daylie doe, set up a trade of buyinge and selling, and taking to pawne, of all kinde of worne apparel, whether it be old, or a little the worse for wearinge; household stuffe and goods of whatever kind soever the same be of, findinge therebie that the same is a more idle and easier kind of trade of livinge, and that there riseth and groweth to them a more readie, more greate, more profitable advantage and gaine, than by theire former manual labours and trades did or coulde bringe them." The Statute, after enumerating the manifold mischiefs resulting from this trade "of buyinge and selling and taking to pawne," goes on to enact (a), that no sale or Pawn of any stolen goods, to any Pawnbroker in London, Westminster, or Southwark, shall alter the property therein, and that Pawnbrokers refusing to produce the goods to the owner from whom stolen, shall forfeit double value. Till the seventeenth century, the Goldsmiths were occasionally bankers, in the only form in which Banking as yet existed. About that time a concurrence of circumstances led to the expansion of this business. The London merchants had been accustomed to deposit their money in the Tower, in the care of the Mint Master, until Charles I., a (a) By sec. 5. short time before the meeting of the Long Parliament, seized upon £200,000 he found there, taking this sum professedly as a loan. The merchants then entrusted their money to their clerks and apprentices, but when the Civil War broke out, so many of these took advantage of the state of affairs to keep the money, that by the year 1645 it had become a constant practice for the merchants to place their funds in the hands of the Goldsmiths, who thenceforward made this a part of their ordinary business (a). From this beginning our present banking system took its rise. One object of the Statute of James, already cited, was "the repressinge and abolishinge of the said idle and needlesse trades and upstart Brokers." The Act, however, · met with the usual fate of legislative attempts to prevent the supply of a public want. Legal prohibitions were ineffectual against social requirements; and Pawnbroking continued to flourish. Perhaps one of the best proofs of this prosperity is furnished by the fact that in 1785 (b) every Pawnbroker was required to take out an annual licence, upon which a duty of £10 was payable by traders in London, Westminster, and other parts of the Metropolitan area, and £5 by those beyond those limits. These duties were raised in 1815 (c) to £15 and £7 10s. respectively, at which they remained till 1872, when an uniform duty of £7 10s. was (d) imposed on all persons in Great Britain trading as Pawnbrokers within the meaning of secs. 5, 6 and 7 of the last-named statute. Though 25 Geo. 3, cap. 48, had been practically superseded by 55 Geo. 3, cap. 184, it was allowed to remain on the Statute Book till 1851, since when it has been twice repealed; first, by 24 & 25 Vict., cap. 104, which abolished it among a number of (a) Knight's London, vol. iii., p. 398. (b) By 25 Geo. 3, cap. 48, sec. 2. (c) By 55 Geo. 3, cap. 184. equally obsolete statutes, and again by 35 & 36 Vict., cap. 93, sec. 4, Schedule I. In words already quoted (a) a Pawnbroker was described (b) as one who "sets up a trade. . . . of buyinge and sellinge and taking to pawn, of all kinds of worne apparel, whether it be old, or a little the worse for wearinge; household stuffe, and goods of what kind soever the same may be of." Rather more precisely, the Act (c) which first imposed a licence duty on these traders, enacted that "all persons who shall receive or take by way of pawn, pledge, or exchange, of or from any person or persons whomsoever, any goods or chattels for the repayment of money lent thereon, shall respectively be deemed Pawnbrokers within the intent and meaning of this Act," though in accordance with the then prevalent fallacy that five per cent. was the only natural and lawful rate of interest, lenders of money at or under five per cent. were (d) expressly exempted from duty. Pawnbroking, as thus defined, was first regulated by statute in 1757 (e). This Act contained provisions as to keeping books, giving duplicates, sale, redemption, &c., which were amended and reenacted in several temporary statutes (f), the last of which (g) was superseded by the Pawnbrokers' Act of 1800 (h). It is worthy of remark that though 30 Geo. 2, cap. 24, was amended by temporary acts which have expired by effluxion of time, the act itself, though displaced in practice by the Pawnbrokers' Acts of 1800 and 1872, was not expressly repealed until 1867 (i). In 1846, the hours of (a) Ante, page 7. (b) 1 Jac. 1, cap. 21. (f) 24 Geo. 3, cap. 42; 27 Geo. 3, cap. 37; 28 Geo. 3, cap. 50. business were somewhat curtailed (b). In 1856, the statutory definition above quoted was extended (c) so as to include keepers of what are technically known as "leaving shops," who purchase goods with an express or implied agreement to re-sell to the vendor at an increased price. In 1859, certain provisions contained in the Metropolitan Police Act (d) were extended to Pawnbrokers in all parts of the country (e). And in 1860, Pawnbrokers were allowed to charge one halfpenny for tickets of pledges below 10s. (f). Notwithstanding these modifications and amendments, the Act of 1800 became less and less popular, until early in the session of 1871, the House of Commons appointed a Select Committee "to inquire into the law affecting the Pawnbroking trades, with a view to its consolidation and amendment." After hearing a great body of evidence, the Committee reported that "the Acts . were in such an unsatisfactory form that they should be wholly repealed and one general law should be passed, regulating the business of Pawnbroking as suggested by the report, and another general law should be passed regulating the summary jurisdiction of justices, respecting the illegal disposition of the several classes of goods for which special provision is now made in the Pawnbrokers' Acts, and in the Metropolitan Police Act." The Act of 1800, the most important of those thus recommended for repeal, was objectionable on several grounds. It contained a number of regulations on matters of detail, couched in singularly crabbed language. Exception was taken to its profit limiting clauses, as at variance with the Free Trade principles which the legislature had repeatedly and (a) 9 & 10 Vict., cap. 98. emphatically recognized. (b) 19 & 20 Vict., cap. 27. secs. 32, 33, 34, and 35. (e) By 23 Vict., cap. 21. Adopted for the purpose of protecting the pawnor from extortion, it was proved that these provisions, like the Usury Acts, defeated their own object, by making bulky goods unpledgeable because the statutory profit was insufficient to cover the increased cost of warehousing, while a judicial decision (a) upon the precise mode of calculating the monthly interest upon small sums, had necessitated resort to elaborate and complex tables of the interest payable upon each act of redemption. The sections which prescribed uniform hours of business in all parts of the country were productive of much inconvenience, and of little or no public advantage. Not a few of the rules laid down by the Act had fallen out of use, while others operated only to the detriment of traders anxious to obey the law. A Bill embodying the recommendations of this Report was brought into the Lower House in 1872;-was referred to a fresh Select Committee, and after considerable discussion, became law on the 10th of August in that year, under the short title of "the Pawnbrokers' Act, 1872 (b), by which (c) the statutes previously mentioned (d) were repealed. The Act applies without qualification to every loan by a Pawnbroker of not more than 40s. (e) and also to loans from 40s. to £10, unless the parties by special contract (f) in statutory form (g) agree to exclude the operation of the Act as to profit and certain other particulars (h). All transactions must be duly entered in books, properly kept in manner prescribed by the Act (i), which also (4) makes it imperative on the Pawnbroker to give with each pledge, a Pawn-ticket whereon the chief incidents of the contract are briefly stated. The lawful (a) Reg. v. Goodburn, 8 A. & E. 508. (b) 35 & 36 Vict., cap. 93, sec. 1. (c) Sec. 4. (d) Ante, pages 6 to 10. (e) Sec. 10, sub. sec. 1. (g) Schedule 7. (h) Sec. 24. (i) Sec. 12, and schedule 3. (k) By sec. 14. (f) Sec. 10, sub. sec. 2. |