If he attempted to cheat his employer by misappropriating the
money or goods advanced to him, on being convicted of the offence before
the elders of the city, he was obliged to repay the merchant three times
the amount he had taken. On the other hand, if the merchant attempted
to defraud his agent by denying that the due amount had been returned to
him, he was obliged on conviction to pay the agent six times the amount
as compensation. It will thus be seen that the law sought to protect the
agent from the risk of being robbed by his more powerful employer.
The merchant sometimes furnished the agent with goods which he was to
dispose of in the best markets he could find in the cities and towns
along his route, and sometimes he would give the agent money with which
to purchase goods in foreign cities for sale on his return. If the
venture proved successful the merchant and his agent shared the profits
between them, but if the agent made bad bargains he had to refund to the
merchant the value of the goods he had received; if the merchant had not
agreed to risk losing any profit, the amount to be refunded to him was
fixed at double the value of the goods advanced.
[Illustration: 282.jpg A TRACK IN THE DESERT.]
This last enactment gives an indication of the immense profits which
were obtained by both the merchant and the agent from this system of
foreign trade, for it is clear that what was regarded fair profit for
the merchant was double the value of the goods disposed of.
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