Pawnbroking laws of Austria-Hungary were similar to those of England. Free trade exists, and the private trader, who does most of the business, must obtain a government concession and deposit caution-money from 80 to 800, according to the size of the town. He must, however, compete with the monts de pit or Versatzaemter, which are sometimes municipal and sometimes state institutions. The chief of these is the imperial pawn office of Vienna, which was founded with charitable objects by the emperor Joseph I in 1707, with half of the annual surplus paid to the Vienna poor fund. Here, as in Berlin, the profits are relatively small. Interest is charged at the uniform rate of 10%, which is calculated in two-week periods, however speedily redemption may follow upon pawning. For small loans varying from two to three kronen, 5% only is charged. The Hungarian state and municipal institutions appear, on the whole, to compete somewhat more successfully with the private firms than is the case in Vienna.