All pawned goods are deemed forfeited at the end of one year. If redeemed, the pawnbroker must endorse on his dupli cate the charge for interest, and keep it in his possession for one year. Articles on which sums have been advanced of 10s. and not exceeding 101., if not re deemed, must be sold by auction, after being exposed to public view and at least two days' notice having been given of the sale. The catalogue of sale must contain the name and abode of the pawnbroker, the month in which the goods were re ceived, and their number as entered in the books and on the duplicate. Pictures, prints, books, bronzes, statues, busts, carv ings in ivory and marble, cameos, intaglios, musical, mathematical, and philosophical instruments, and china, must be sold se parate from other goods, on the first Mon day in January, April, July, and October in every year. On notice not to sell given in writing, or in the presence of one wit ness, from persons having goods in pledge, three months further are allowed beyond the year for redemption. An account of sales of pledges above 10s. must be en tered in a book kept by the pawnbroker, and if articles are sold for more than the sum for which they were pledged, with interest thereon, the owner is entitled to the overplus, if demanded within three years after the sale. Pawnbrokers' sale books are open to inspection on payment of a fee of one penny. The penalty on pawnbrokers selling goods before the proper time, or injuring or losing them, and not making compensation to the owner, according to the award of a ma gistrate, is 101. They are required to produce their books on the order of a magistrate in any dispute concerning pledges, and are not to purchase goods which are in their custody. The act ex tends to the executors of pawnbrokers.
The Pawnbrokers' Act prohibits pledges being taken from persons intoxicated or under twelve years of age ; and by the Me tropolitan Police Act (2 & 3 Vict. c. 47), a fine of 51. is inflicted upon pawnbrokers taking pledges from persons under the age of sixteen. Pawnbrokers are prohibited from buying goods between the hours of 8 A.M. and 7 P.M. ; or receiving pledges from Michaelmas-day to Lady-day before 8 A.M. or after 7 P.M.; or for the other part of the year, before 7 a.m. or after 8 r.st.. excepting on Saturdays and the evenings preceding Good Friday and Christmas-day, when the hour for closing is extended to 11 P.M. They are required to place a table of profits and charges in a conspicuous part of their places of business.
Pawnbrokers are required to take out an annual licence from the Stamp Office; and, to enable them to take in pledge articles of gold and silver, a second li cence is necessary, which costs 51. 15s Those who carry on business within the limits of the old twopenny-post pay 151. a year for their licence, and in other parts of Great Britain 71. 10s. The licence expires on the 31st of July, and a penalty of 5(.1. is incurred if it is not renewed ten days before. No licence is required in Ireland, but those who carry on the business of a pawnbroker must be regis tered.
In 1833 the number of pawnbrokers in the metropolitan district was 368 ; 386 in 1838; and 383 in 1842; in the rest of England and Wales the number was 1083 in 1833; 1194 in 1838; and 1304 in 1942; in Scotland the number was 52 in 1833 ; 88 in 1838 ; Mid 133 in 1842: making a total of 1820 establish ments in 1842, which paid 16,5221. for their licences, besides the licence which many of them take out as dealers in gold and silver. The increase in England is
to a considerable extent chiefly in places where the business of a pawnbroker has not hitherto been carried on ; and in Scot land, according to the New Statistical Account,' the extent of this change is re markable. The business of a pawnbroker was not known in Glasgow until August, 1806, when an itinerant English pawn broker commenced business in a single room, but decamped at the end of six mouths ; and his place was not supplied until June, 1813, when the first regular office was established in the west of Scot land for receiving goods in pawn. Other individuals soon entered into the business; and the practice of pawning became so common that, in 1820, in a season of dis tress, 2043 heads of families pawned 7380 articles, on which they raised 739/. 5s. 6d. The capital invested in this business in 1840 was about 26,000/. Nine-tenths of the articles pledged are redeemed within the legal period. (Dr. Cleland's Former and Present State of Glasgow.' 1840.) There are no means of ascertaining the exact number of pawnbrokers' establish ments in the large towns of England. A return of the amount and nature of the dealings of pawnbrokers would supply much valuable evidence of the condition and habits of the people. The only return of the kind which we have seen was sup plied by a large pawnbroking establish ment at Glasgow to Dr. Cleland, who read it at the meeting of the British Associa tion for the Advancement of Science in 1836. The list comprised the following articles :-539 men's coats, 355 vests, 288 pairs of trowsers, 84 pairs of stock ings, 1980 women's gowns, 540 petticoats, 132 wrappers, 123 duffles, 90 pelisses, 240 silk handkerchiefs, 294 shirts and shifts, 60 hats, 84 bed-ticks, 108 pillows, 262 pairs of blankets, 300 pairs of sheets, 162 bed-covers, 36 table-cloths, 48 um brellas, 102 Bibles, 204 watches, 216 rings, and 48 Waterloo medals. It was not stated during what period these articles were received. There were at that time in Glasgow above thirty pawn brokers. In the manufacturing districts during the prevalence of " strikes," or in seasons of commercial embarrassment, many hundreds of families pawn the greater part of their wearing-apparel and household furniture. (Paper read in 1837 by Mr. Ashworth, of Bolton, ' On the Preston Strike in 1836.') The borough-reeve of Manchester stated on a late occasion (April, 1840) that a clergyman had shown him sixty-seven pawn-tickets from one family, and he said there were thousands in similar cir cumstances "going inch by inch," in con sequence of the stagnation of industry. The practice of having recourse to the pawnbrokers on such occasions is quite a different thing from the habits of those who, " on being paid their wages on the Saturday, are in the habit of taking their holiday clothes out of the hands of the pawnbroker to enable them to appear respectably on the Sabbath, and on the Monday folk wing they are again pawned, and a fresh loan obtained to meet the exigencies of their families for the re mainder of the week." It is on these transactions and on such as arise out of the desire of obtaining some momentary gratification that the pawnbrokers make their large profits. It is stated in one of the Reports on the Poor-Laws, that a loan of 3d., if redeemed the same day, pays annual interest at the rate of 5200 per cent. ; weekly, 866 per cent.