I think that the usage of signs in the Scouring of the Shire can be comparable to the "Commandments" in Animal Farm. Sharkey & Co. used the signs to tell Hobbits that "they couldn't do X" and "they would be punished if they did Y" without letting the Hobbits actually peruse the "rules" on their own. I'm sure that those clever folk would find little loopholes if they got their hands on a set of codified rules, which was why Sharkey & Co. never codified any, and probably didn't let the Hobbits get close enough to read them. Another possibility was that the "Head Shirriffs", the ones who were in the payroll of Sharkey & Co., made up rules as they went to oppress the Hobbits.
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But Melkor also was there, and he came to the house of Fëanor, and there he slew Finwë King of the Noldor before his doors, and spilled the first blood in the Blessed Realm; for Finwë alone had not fled from the horror of the Dark.
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