政府の指導者層にとって、商法典の編纂は、国内的な殖産興業の文脈であるよりも、むしろ不平等条約改正の手段であり、近代法制整備の証明の意味が強かった。極言すれば、商法典は、条約改正交渉の道具のひとつにすぎなかったのである。外交の道具としての有用性は、交渉相手である英国を筆頭とする列強への「近代法治国家」としてのアピール度に比例する。ロェスラーの商法草案は、このアピール度においては、必要以上かつ十分以上であった。だが、かれの草案に基づく明治23年の旧商法典がいかに優れた国際的通用性を有していようと、逆にそれゆえにこそ、まだ初期の段階にあった日本の経済の実態とのギャップは埋めがたかった。政府内には、伊藤博文のように、第一の波のレベルであるフランス商法典の簡略な模倣で十分であるとする者もあれば、法典編纂の担当者・山田顕義のように、ロェスラーの草案に忠実であろうとするばかりに、現実とかけ離れた翻訳調の商法典をよしとする者もあった。結局、旧商法典は、明治24年1月1日からの施行を予定していたにもかかわらず、明治23年末の第一回帝国議会における商法典論争で施行延期となった。その理由は、直接には、旧商法典の内容が理解不能であるうえに準備期間が短いとして実業家の強い反対を呼び起こしたことによる。しかし、間接的には、外務大臣大隈重信の条約改正交渉が伊藤らの反対と大隈へのテロのために明治22年に中止となり、商法典の外交カードとしての意味が失われていたこと、諸列強の注視するなか東アジアで最初の議会をスムーズに終えるためには、民意を汲んだ旧商法典の施行延期は、政府にとって「安い代価」であったことが挙げられる。日本の外交と内治の亀裂に旧商法典が滑落したのが、旧商法典施行延期の本質であった。
Rather than the purpose of domestic encouragement of new industry, the compilation of the Commercial Code was, for the leaders of the government, a means of amending the unequal treaties, and was also greatly significant in terms of proving the establishment of a modern legal system. Put bluntly, the Commercial Code was simply one of the tools used in the treaty revision negotiations. Its usefulness as a tool of diplomacy was proportional to its appeal to the Superpowers, headed by its negotiating partner, the United Kingdom, that it was a "modern law-abiding country". Roesler's Draft Commercial Code exceeded what was required and was more than sufficient in terms of its appeal. However, no matter how internationally excellent the 1890 Commercial Code based on his draft was, or rather, precisely because of this, it was difficult to fill in the gap with the reality of Japan's economy which was still in its early stages. Some officials in the government, such as Itō Hirobumi expressed the view that a simple imitation of the French Commercial Code, which was at the level of the first wave, was sufficient, while others such as Yamada Akiyoshi, the person in charge of compiling the Code, wanted to be faithful to Roesler's draft, and therefore, favored a translation-style Commercial Code that was divorced from reality.
Although initially scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 1891, the enforcement of the old Commercial Code was eventually postponed due to the Commercial Code controversy at the First Imperial Assembly at the end of 1890. The direct reasons for this were that the contents of the old Commercial Code were incomprehensible and also they evoked strong opposition from businesspeople on the grounds that the preparation period was too short. However, indirect influences were that the negotiations to amend the treaties which had been conducted by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, were discontinued in 1889 due to opposition from Itō and others, Ōkuma was subject to a terrorist attack, the significance of the Commercial Code as a diplomatic card had been lost, and postponing of the enforcement of the old Commercial Code backed up by public opinion was a "small price" for the government to pay in order to be able to smoothly conclude the first parliament in East Asia under the watchful eye of the Superpowers. The real nature of the postponement of the enforcement of the old Commercial Code was that it had slipped between the cracks of Japanese diplomacy and internal affairs.