The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-03-16 00:00:00

THE PEDLARS' ACT, 1871.

A numerously attendedmeeting of hawkers and peds
lars was convened on Tuesday evening, in the St.
Stephen's M ission-house, . Henry-street, Kent-street,
Borough, London, in opposition to the above Act.
Mr. Philip Walter, who was principally instru-
mental in the promotion of the meeting, having been
voted to the chair, explained what he considered the
objectionable features of the Act. It placed, he said,
a restriction upon boys under the age of seventeen
years, who, he argued, if prevented from getting a
livelihood by the only method within the compass of
their means, station, and ability, would necessarily re
sort to thieving rather than starve. It exacted in re-
spect of a licence to hawk the sum of 55., which
numbers of the class were frequently not in a
position to pay. But the most objectionable of all its
clauses was the one making it imperative that a
hawker's licence should be vised by the police officer
of every district through which he travelled. Ho read
the affidavit of a hawker, name,' Read, who, while on
his travels through the Isle of Wight, was arrested at
Shanklin and taken to Ventnor to get his certificate
endorsed. The man was making his way on foot to
Ventnor at the time for that purpose, but, having
fallen into the hands of the police, was made to pay
railway fare. At Ventnor he was detained till the
next day, then he was taken before a magistrate and
remanded till the day following, and, notwithstanding
he offered to deposit Iffi id money and f.:2 worth of
stock to avoid incarceration, he was locked up for 23
hours, finally being set at liberty by the justices sitting
in petty sessions at Newport after being mulcted in Bs.
expenses. This the chairman denounced as cruel in
the extreme, and he then read a letter he had just
received from the Home Secretary, which was as
follows : _ _ • " -

" •
" Whitehall, March 6. Ste—ln reply to your letter of the
17th ult., representing that the pedlars of London have oh-
jectiona to certain of the clauses of the Pedlars' Act, 1871, I
am directed by Mr. Secretary Bruce to acquaint you that the
amendments in the above Act were adopted after great con-
sideration, and in order to remedy an %ironed univeteal COM-
plaint as to the working of the former Pedlars' Act. The
new Act has only been two months in operation, and until
It has been fairly tried Mr. Bruce cannot entertain the ques-
tion of altering it. I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A. F. 0. LIDDELL. Mr. Philip Walter, 95, Oxford-street,
Mile-end."

---
In conclusion, the chairman called upon the meee-
ing not to be deterred by this attempt to shut the
door against them from making an appeal to the Legis-
lature and protesting together and strongly against the
infringement of their personal liberty.
On the motion of Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr.
Thompson, the following resolution was passed ;
" That this meeting of pedlars and hawkers cowl lees the
Pedlars' Act, 1871, as arbitrary, cruel, and unjust that some
of its clauses are of a nature to prevent the very poorest
from obtaining an honest livelihood, and that it introduces a
new and dangerous principle subversive of Constitutional
liberty—that of police supelvision ; that the clauses relating
to the selling of skill in handicraft introduces an unjust
precedent for taxing workmen on their labour."
J. Robinson moved, and one Griffiths seconded a
resolution approving that a petition be presented to
Parliament, and giving directions for a deputation to
wait upon the borough members. A motion for a vote
of thanks to the chairman met with a cordial assent.