Evening star., 1869-12-02
The butchers and the Country People.

wAsbIS3FO~, D. G., Nov. 81, ts6a.
Eiit'T EretinJ StGT--SiT: am not seeking \
newspaper controversy, or notr;ety, thoISI
you can publish thi. il you see proper. In
NOuT issue o. the sd inst. yJu notice The passage
OF a BIN Is the City Councils, "givtng co.n ~
Pcol the privilege for six months OF the yea Of
cutting uI ard Tetaili g Their meats At tn.
various market in this city. !" and your Jmm ut
Is, that il l. a bill. or mea ure you have ALWAYS
advocated I would ask yoI, s,r, II yoar opit-
ions on this meas re are from q theoretical view
OF he case. or If you have given the practical
,co- kings Of it rious thought The market
IeOp.e of Washington paid into the treasury the
last year. (according TO the Registers report,
nearly s;;7 zoe. And for what: Simply for the
privilege of retailing meats and vegetables in
the various markets. How much did our
country friends pay the last year? Nothing.
Are We as class who pay 30 much Of the city's
cNpene TO have no protection: Have We no
right Ia be protected for all this amount OF
license money? am sorry to say, sir, they are
principal rights will be stricken down by it.
Pass this measure, and in future the greatest
privilege the butchers Will have, will be in
Fighting green flies all summer and Jack Frost
Why not give them the whole twelve months
There Is no fear Of their using but six, for will
venture TO say they will not pay from twelve
did all last summer, to save what meats they
might have left. presume il matters but little
to you, them, or the community at large, if we
have to pay nfy dollars Per week for ice' 50 that
winter bring into successful competition to this
class of despised Na.arenes set Of free-traders.
Whilst 1 am in favor of doing all that we can
do to foster and encourage the producers Of the
country, am opposed to giving them a right,
free, because they live in the country, for what
4 pay three hundred dollars per year for, be-
cause live in the city. Let them bring all they
can to our markets, but make them pay the Same
license we pay, or compel them to sell their corn,
potatoes turnips, apples, &c, &C., by the barrel
or bushel, their meats by the CARCASS or quarter
AN ~ ~ mad N ia tha aipfan
ton of the authorities to break up the markets
or the market people, let them do 50 at one fell
swoop; but whilst they charge US 50 roundly for
rights and immunities, for gracious sake let us
be protected in them.
Very respectfully, &c, b. G. K.
We give the above i'm full, because the views
are cogently expressed and there Is a considera-
BILE degree Of justice in them. 1t Is essential for
the prosperity of the city that the prices of arti
cles of consumption shall be kept down 50 that
it shall not have the reputation of being dear
city to live in but in legslating to that end jus
tice must be done to the dealers, who pay STALL
rent and license, and who are Obliged to furnish
their customers with steady supplies during all
the months of the year. We doubt If it would
be fair TO the butchers to allow cOuntrymen to
retail meats at our markets, but the absurd re-
strictions which prevents them from selling
meats by Wholesale ought certainly to be abol-
lShSu, anu eHAS "oS tuC lOiut WO TIE
remarks commented upon by our correspondent
How those restrictions work Is shown by the case
of the countrymen from Middletown, Maryland,
who brought calves to this market for sale-not
by retail but wholesale-and who failing to
make sale to the wholesale butchers sold them
to the smaller dealers. For this they were ar
rested, imprisoned and heavily fined, because
they could not prove that they had raised the
calves. Of course the Middletown farmers will
not bring any more calves to this market in
hurry; but they hare brought a suit against the
Corporation Of Washington for damages, false
imprisonment, &c. Now every such absurd law
that will allow any Washington Dogberry to
mulct and imprison q countryman for selling
meat by the carcass or quarter ought to be swept
from the statute books, ipstanter. We want to
invite to our market all the country people who
have anything to sell; certainly not to send them
to Baltimore and other markets.