Merchant Law
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Merchant Law is the only
common legal arrangements existing among the Gorean cities. (1) Merchants
also, in effect, arrange and administer the four great fairs that take place
each year near the Sardar Mountains. (2) It is here that
Merchant Law is drafted and stabilized. (3) Weights and measures are
standardized throughout the Gorean cities by Merchant Law. (4) |
(1)
�The fairs incidentally are governed by Merchant Law and supported by booth
rents and taxes levied on the items exchanged. The commercial facilities of
these fairs, from money changing to general banking, are the finest I know of on
Gor, save those in Ar�s Street of Coins, and letters of credit are accepted and
loans negotiated, though often at usurious rates, with what seems reckless
indifference. Yet perhaps this is not so puzzling, for the Gorean cities will,
within their own walls, enforce the Merchant Law when pertinent, even against
their own citizens. If they did not, of course, the fairs would be closed to the
citizens of that city.� Priest-Kings of Gor, Page 10
(2)
�There is a saying on Gor, �Gold has no caste.� It is a saying of which the
merchants are fond. Indeed, secretly among themselves, I have heard, they regard
themselves as the highest caste on Gor, though they would not say so for fear of
rousing the indignation of other castes. There would be something, of course, to
be said for such a claim, for the merchants are often indeed in their way, brave,
shrewd, skilled men, making long journeys, venturing their goods, risking
caravans, negotiating commercial agreements, among themselves developing and
enforcing a body of Merchant Law, the only common legal arrangements existing
among the Gorean cities. Merchants also, in effect, arrange and administer the
four great fairs that take place each year near the Sardar Mountains. I say �in
effect� because the fairs are nominally under the direction of a committee of
the Caste of Initiates, which, however, largely contents itself with its
ceremonies and sacrifices, and is only too happy to delegate the complex
management of those vast, commercial phenomena, the Sardar Fairs, to members of
the lowly, much-despised Caste of Merchants, without which, incidentally, the
fairs most likely could not exist, certainly not at any rate in their current
form.� Nomads of Gor, Page 84
(3)
�The fairs, too, however, have many other functions. � It is here that Merchant
Law is drafted and stabilized.� Beasts of Gor, Page 44
(4)
�The Weight and the Stone, incidentally, are standardized throughout the Gorean
cities by Merchant Law, the only common body of law existing among the cities.
The official �Stone,� actually a solid metal cylinder, is kept, by the way, near
the Sardar. Four times a year, on a given day in each of the four great fairs
held annually near the Sardar, it is brought forth with scales, that merchants
from whatever city may test their own standard �Stone� against it. (�) As in the
case of the official �Stone�, so, too, at the Sardar is a metal rod, which
determines the Merchant Foot, or Gorean foot, as I have called it.�
Raiders of Gor, Page 127 and 128
(5)
�The Merchants have, in the last few years, on certain trade routes, between Ar
and Ko-ro-ba, and between Tor and Ar, established palisaded compounds,
defensible stockades. (�) Various cities, through their own Merchant Castes,
lease land for these stockades and, for their fees, keep their garrisons,
usually men of their own cities, supplied. The stockades are governed under
Merchant Law, legislated and revised, and upheld, at the Sardar Fairs.�
Captive of Gor, Page 219
(6)
�The representative of the Merchants, to whom I reported my business, and to
whom I paid for wharfage, asked no questions. He did not even demand the proof
of registration of the Tesephone in Tabor. The Merchants, who control Lydius,
under merchant law, for it is a free port, like Helmutsport, and Schendi and
Bazi, are more interested in having their port heavily trafficked than strictly
policed.� Hunters of Gor, Page 43
(7)
�He himself resided, I understood, in Telnus, the capital of Cos, where his
company had its headquarters. His work chains, however, were politically
neutral, understood under merchant law as hirable instruments. They might,
accordingly, and sometimes did, work for both sides in given conflicts.�
Dancer of Gor, Page 322
(8)
�Merchant law has been unsuccessful, as yet, in introducing such things as
patents and copyrights on Gor. Such things do exist in municipal law on Gor but
the jurisdictions involved are, of course, local.�
Magicians of Gor, Page 394
(9)
�She was referring to a series of wars, loosely referred to as the Slave Wars,
which occurred among various cities in the middle latitudes of Gor, off and on,
over a period of approximately a generation. They had occurred long before my
coming to Gor. Although large-scale slaving was involved in these wars, and was
doubtless a sufficient condition for them, hence the name, other considerations,
as would be expected, were often involved, as well, such as the levying of
tribute and the control of trade routes. Out of the Slave Wars grew much of the
merchant law pertaining to slaves.� Vagabonds of Gor, Page
272
(10)
�It is my understanding, following merchant law, and Tahari custom,� I said,
�that I am not a slave, for though I am a prisoner, I have been neither branded
nor collared, nor have I performed a gesture of submission.�
Tribesmen of Gor, Page 196
(11)
�In the case of the girl, Rowena, of course, as she was already a
self-pronounced slave, the brand and collar were little more than identificatory
formalities. Nonetheless she would wear them. They would be fixed visibly and
clearly upon her. This is in accord with the prescriptions of merchant law.�
Players of Gor, Page 36
(12)
�You understand further, of course,� said he, �that under Gorean merchant law,
which is the only law commonly acknowledged binding between cities, that you
stand under separate permissions of enslavement. First, were you of Ar, it would
be my right, could I be successful, to make of you a slave, for we share no Home
Stone. Secondly, though you speak of yourself as the Lady Elicia of Ar, of Six
Towers, you are, in actuality, Miss Elicia Nevins of the planet Earth. You are
an Earth girl and thus stand within a general permission of enslavement, fair
beauty quarry to any Gorean male whatsoever.� Slave Girl
of Gor, Page 394
(13)
�They had declared themselves slaves. The slave herself, of course, once the
declaration has been made, cannot revoke it. That would be impossible, for she
is then only a slave. The slave can be freed only by one who owns her, only by
one who is at the time her master or, if it should be the case, her mistress.
The legal point, I think, is interesting. Sometimes, in the fall of a city,
girls who have been enslaved, girls formerly of the now victorious city, will be
freed. Technically, according to Merchant Law, which serves as the arbiter in
such intermunicipal matters, the girls become briefly the property of their
rescuers, else how could they be freed? Further, according to Merchant Law, the
rescuer has no obligation to free the girl. In having been enslaved she has lost
all claim to her former Home Stone. She has become an animal. If, too, she is
sufficiently desirable, it is almost certain she will not be freed. As the
Goreans have it, such women are too beautiful to be free. Too, as often as not,
city pride enters into such matters. Such girls, with other slave girls, both of
various cities and with the former free women of the conquered city, now
collared slaves, too, will often be marched naked in chains in the loot
processions of the conquering cities. It is claimed they have shamed their
former city by having fallen slave, and if they were good enough to be only
slaves in the conquered city then surely they should be no more within the walls
of the victorious city. Such girls usually are marched in a special position in
the loot processions, behind and before banners which proclaim their shame. The
people much abuse them and lash them as they pass. Such girls usually beg
piteously to be sold to transient slavers. It is hard for them to wear their
collars in their own city.� Explorers of Gor, Page 409
(14)
�Girls such as I must expect to be marked,� she said. �It is in accord with the
recommendations of merchant law.� Kajira of Gor, Page 46
(15)
�You�re going to be branded,� he said, �and put in a collar.� I regarded him
with disbelief.
�But so too, will the other girls,� he said. �You will all have your brands and
collars.�
I could not speak. �Such things are prescribed by merchant law,� he said."
Dancer of Gor, Page 62
(16)
�Some fellows do not brand their slaves,� I said.
�That is stupid!� she said.
�It is also contrary to the laws of most cities,� I said, �and to merchant law,
as well.�
Vagabonds of Gor, Page 188
(17)
�But her left thigh worn no brand. Her right thigh, too, as I soon noted, did
not wear the slave mark, nor did her lower left abdomen. These are the three
standard marking places, following the recommendations of Merchant Law, for the
marking of Kajirae, with the left thigh being, in practice, the overwhelmingly
favored brand site.� Fighting Slave of Gor, Page 312
(18)
�The thighs and the lower left abdomen are the brand sites recommended by
Merchant Law.� Fighting Slave of Gor, Page 349
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**From "The Gorean Cave" website** |
. . . There is a
saying on Gor that the laws of a city extend no further than its walls.
---Outlaw of Gor, 6:50
|
And the possible one exception to this rule is merchant law. Merchants, although not considered of a high caste, enjoy considerable influence in most Gorean cities and have a clear advantage over many castes in that they are able to directly affect the life of Goreans and the decisions of Gorean government. Whereas Gorean law is essentially a matter of local power, the Caste of Merchants has managed to build a set of rules pertaining to trade which are used throughout all of Gor. |
. . . There is a saying on Gor, �Gold has no caste.� It is a saying of which the merchants are fond. Indeed, secretly among themselves, I have heard, they regard themselves as the highest caste on Gor, though they would not say so for fear of rousing the indignation of other castes. There would be something, of course, to be said for such a claim, for the merchants are often indeed in their way, brave, shrewd, skilled men, making long journeys, venturing their goods, risking caravans, negotiating commercial agreements, among themselves developing and enforcing a body of Merchant Law, the only common legal arrangements existing among the Gorean cities. Merchants also, in effect, arrange and administer the four great fairs that take place each year near the Sardar Mountains. I say �in effect� because the fairs are nominally under the direction of a committee of the Caste of Initiates, which, however, largely contents itself with its ceremonies and sacrifices, and is only too happy to delegate the complex management of those vast, commercial phenomena, the Sardar Fairs, to members of the lowly, much-despised Caste of Merchants, without which, incidentally, the fairs most likely could not exist, certainly not at any rate in their current form.---Nomads of Gor, 9:84
. . . The fairs, too, however, have many other functions. . . . It is here that
Merchant Law is drafted and stabilized. . . . ---Beasts of
Gor, 3:44
|
Aside from being the law system adopted by many trade ports and cities, merchant law is said to be almost universally applied in areas of trade. It is also the only law which commonly binds all cities, with probable exceptions (as with most things). Merchant law is drafted and stabilized at the fairs which are held four times a year at the foot of the Sardar Mountains. It covers as many aspects of trade and merchanting as one can think of, including, of course, the market of human property. |
�The fairs
incidentally are governed by Merchant Law and supported by booth rents and taxes
levied on the items exchanged. The commercial facilities of these fairs, from
money changing to general banking, are the finest I know of on Gor, save those
in Ar�s Street of Coins, and letters of credit are accepted and loans negotiated,
though often at usurious rates, with what seems reckless indifference. Yet
perhaps this is not so puzzling, for the Gorean cities will, within their own
walls, enforce the Merchant Law when pertinent, even against their own citizens.
If they did not, of course, the fairs would be closed to the citizens of that
city.� ---Priest-Kings of Gor, p 10
|
It is important to understand the separation of jurisdiction when it comes to areas which may have matters of civil law from matters of merchant law. In the case of slaves for example, the laws by which one may be enslaved, the laws which determine what a slave may or may not do in public places will be a matter of civil law. The laws which pertain to the classification, training, certification and selling of slaves as market items, however, are clearly under merchant law. On slave trade, it is said that most of the elements of merchant law which cover this specialty were born of the slave wars, a series of wars which occurred among various cities in the middle latitudes of Gor, off and on, over a period of approximately a generation. These wars, although more than likely involving more than the taking of women, did result in mass slaving operations and so it is written, that out of these wars grew much of the merchant law pertaining to slaves as well as some of the criteria for the standardization of the female slave as a commodity. Laws pertaining to the rights for certification and the standardization of criteria for such certification are matters of merchant law. Slave trade, however, is but one market in a sea of markets, all of which are subject to the regulations of merchant law. The scales used by merchants, for example, are calibrated by using a stone which is standardized and calibrated by using the official 'Stone' kept at the Sardar. A similar rule exists for all 'official' measurements used in trade. |
The Weight and the
Stone, incidentally, are standardized throughout the Gorean cities by Merchant
Law, the only common body of law existing among the cities. The official "Stone,"
actually a solid metal cylinder, is kept, by the way, near the Sardar. Four
times a year, on a given day in each of the four great fairs held annually near
the Sardar, it is brought forth with scales, that merchants from whatever city
may test their own standard "Stone" against it.
As in the case of the official "Stone", so, too, at the Sardar is a metal rod,
which determines the Merchant Foot, or Gorean foot, as I have called it.
---Raiders of Gor, 127-128
|
Merchant law has managed, then, to stabilize a number of aspects of merchanting and trade and to be sure the reader finds that this progresses as the series moves forward. Items which are likely to be found in markets all over Gor such as cattle, precious metals, stones and slaves, will of course be easier to legislate than items more specific to a small area or specific culture. And of course bartering and trade remain methods by which many chose to -shop-, making the markets difficult to level, depending on the demand for a particular item and the availibility of said particular item within a specific area. As for most markets, the cost of things will fluctuate with demand as well as the difficulties encountered in aquiring said item. |
Merchant law has been
unsuccessful, as yet, in introducing such things as patents and copyrights on
Gor. Such things do exist in municipal law on Gor but the jurisdictions involved
are, of course, local.
---Magicians of Gor, p 394
|
Merchant law provides the rules by which certification and pedigrees will be produced, the registering of breeds and lineage information for cattle, domestic animals as well as slaves. The breeding of slaves is subject to a number of conditions as is the manner in which the children of slaves are treated and/or handled. In most cities a child born to a slave is also slave even if the child was conceinved by a free man. Free men wishing to have free chidren born of their slave girls, are said to temporarily free them for the time of childbirth. There are exceptions of course as with most rules, the city of Tharna for example, in post-revolt era, modified its laws so that slave girls may give birth to free persons so long as they were free at the time of conception. This of course makes the temporary freedom much shorter. |
The youth of Tharna is usually bred from women temporarily freed for purposes of
their conception, then reenslaved. In Tharnan law a person conceived by a free
person on a free person is considered to be a free person, even if they are
later carried and borne by a slave. In many other cities this is different, the
usual case being that the offspring of a slave is a slave, and belongs to the
mother's owner. ---Vagabonds of Gor, Ch 26
|
For the most part,
though, slaves are bred in order to produce more slaves, to perpetuate a
certain trait, or quality, much the same as other cattle. |
It is my understanding, following merchant law, and Tahari custom,� I said,
�that I am not a slave, for though I am a prisoner, I have been neither branded
nor collared, nor have I performed a gesture of submission.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 196
�You understand further, of course,� said he, �that under Gorean merchant law,
which is the only law commonly acknowledged binding between cities, that you
stand under separate permissions of enslavement. First, were you of Ar, it would
be my right, could I be successful, to make of you a slave, for we share no Home
Stone. Secondly, though you speak of yourself as the Lady Elicia of Ar, of Six
Towers, you are, in actuality, Miss Elicia Nevins of the planet Earth. You are
an Earth girl and thus stand within a general permission of enslavement, fair
beauty quarry to any Gorean male whatsoever. ---Slave Girl of Gor, p 394
�The legal point, I think, is interesting. Sometimes, in the fall of a city,
girls who have been enslaved, girls formerly of the now victorious city, will be
freed. Technically, according to Merchant Law, which serves as the arbiter in
such intermunicipal matters, the girls become briefly the property of their
rescuers, else how could they be freed? Further, according to Merchant Law, the
rescuer has no obligation to free the girl. In having been enslaved she has lost
all claim to her former Home Stone. ---Explorers of Gor, p
409
Girls such as I must expect to be marked,� she said. �It is in accord with the
recommendations of merchant law. ---Kajira of Gor, p 46
You�re going to be branded,� he said, �and put in a collar.� I regarded him with
disbelief
�But so too, will the other girls,� he said. �You will all have your brands and
collars.
I could not speak.
�Such things are prescribed by merchant law,� he said. ---Dancer
of Gor, p 62
�Some fellows do not
brand their slaves,� I said.
�That is stupid!� she said.
�It is also contrary to the laws of most cities,� I said, �and to merchant law,
as well. ---Vagabonds of Gor, p 188
But her left thigh
worn no brand. Her right thigh, too, as I soon noted, did not wear the slave
mark, nor did her lower left abdomen. These are the three standard marking
places, following the recommendations of Merchant Law, for the marking of
Kajirae, with the left thigh being, in practice, the overwhelmingly favored
brand site.� --- Fighting Slave of Gor, p 312
|
Merchant magistrates, officers of the law, are given the duties of law enforcement as well as the power to prosecute those who are caught breaking the law and applying whatever sentence is deemed appropriate depending on the nature of the offense. Permits and the rights to trade or earn a living by offering entertainment sometimes require the paiement of a fee such as is seen in festivals, fair and and such. |
The representative of the Merchants, to whom I reported my business, and to whom
I paid for wharfage, asked no questions. He did not even demand the proof of
registration of the Tesephone in Tabor. The Merchants, who control Lydius, under
merchant law, for it is a free port, like Helmutsport, and Schendi and Bazi, are
more interested in having their port heavily trafficked than strictly policed.
---Hunters of Gor, p 43
|
Essentially, merchant law is guided by the codes of the caste and serves as a consumer protection system as well as a means to maintain the credibility of the members of the caste of merchants. By policing their own, merchants manage to establish and preserve the trust of the customer population. |
One would not wish to buy a girl thinking she was auburn, a rare and muchly
prized hair color on Gor, for example, and then discover later that she was, say,
blond. Against such fraud, needless to say, the law provides redress. Slavers
will take pains in checking out new catches, or acquisitions, to ascertain the
natural color of their hair, one of the items one expects to find, along with
fingerprints and measurements, and such, on carefully prepared slave papers.
---Vagabonds of Gor, Ch19
|
Merchant law also allows for a form of neutral ground in times of conflict, offering goods and services under an even opportunity system and without having to be on one or the other side of a conflict. |
Various cities,
through their own Merchant Castes, lease land for these stockades and, for their
fees, keep their garrisons, usually men of their own cities, supplied. The
stockades are governed under Merchant Law, legislated and revised, and upheld,
at the Sardar Fairs. ---Captive of Gor, p 219
He himself resided, I understood, in Telnus, the capital of Cos, where his
company had its headquarters. His work chains, however, were politically
neutral, understood under merchant law as hirable instruments. They might,
accordingly, and sometimes did, work for both sides in given conflicts.
---Dancer of Gor, p 322
|
**From "John Norman's World of Gor" website** |