the necessaries of life are unusually dear, and the times generally are bad.  The following is a translation of a ticket issued by one of these shops, which may often be recognised in a Chinese city by the character for pawn painted on an enormous scale in some conspicuous position:—­“In accordance with instructions from the authorities, interest will be charged at the rate of three per cent. [per month] for a period of sixteen months, at the expiration of which the pledge, if not redeemed, will become the property of the pawnbroker, to be disposed of as he shall think fit.  All damages to the deposit arising from war, the operations of nature, insects, rats, mildew, &c., to be accepted by both sides as the will of Heaven.  Deposits will be returned on presentation of the proper ticket without reference to the possession of it by the applicant.”  Besides this, the name and address of the pawnshop, a number, description of the article pledged, amount lent, and finally the date, are entered in their proper places upon the ticket, which is stamped as a precaution against forgery with the private stamp of the pawnshop.  Jewels are not received as pledges, and gold and silver only under certain restrictions.

The other class is not recognised by the authorities, and its very existence is illegal, though of course winked at by a venial executive.  Shops of this kind, which may be known by the character for keep, are very much frequented by the poor.  A more liberal loan is obtainable than at the licensed pawnbroker’s, but on the other hand the rate of interest charged is very much more severe.  Pledges are only received for three months, and on the ticket issued there is no stipulation about damage to the deposit.  No satisfaction is to be got in case of fraud or injustice to either side:  a magistrate would refuse to hear a case either for or against one of these unlicensed shops.  They carry on their trade in daily fear of the rowdies who infest every Chinese town, granting loans to these ruffians on valueless articles, which in many cases are returned without payment either of interest or principal, thereby securing themselves from the disturbances which “bare poles” who have nothing to lose are ever ready to create at a moment’s notice, and which would infallibly hand them over to the clutches of hungry and rapacious officials.  The counters over which all business is transacted are from six to eight feet high, strongly made, and of such a nature that to scale them would be a very difficult matter, and to grab anything with the view of making a bolt for the street utterly and entirely impossible.  In a Chinese city, where there is no police force to look after the safety of life and property, and where everybody prefers to let a thief pass rather than risk being called as a witness before the magistrate, it becomes necessary to guard against such contingencies as these.  As things are now, pawnshops may be considered the most flourishing institutions in the country; and in these establishments many even of the highest officials invest savings squeezed from the districts entrusted to their paternal care.