Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-14
THE MARKET MEN
A Meeting to Protest Agast the
Commissioners Order.
THE MATTER FULLY DISCUSSED
Mr.. Ordwav Says the Company
Will Help the Farmers.
SOME ACTS OF CONGRESS

meeting of those produce dealers who
have been ordered by the District Com
missioners to remove from their present
stands on the north side of B street at the
Center market was held this afternoon in
the market building. Mr. George G. Curtis
Of Prince Georges county, Md, presided
and Mr.. George V. White of Twinng City,
D. c., was secretary.
Mr.. Curtis said it would be very great
hardship if the order is enforced. He for
one. he said, will be forced out of the bust
ness, as it would be impossible for him to
stand the storms of winter or the heat of
summer.
Commissioners Responsible.
Mr.. B. Bryan of Anacostia, d. c. said:
forced. believe it will result in deaths be-
fore the winter is over, and that if that
shall be SO they will be responsible before
God. The order Is inhuman and cruel, and
must not be carried out before Congress
has appropriated to build a proper place
for those whom it is proposed to eject.
4 made an appeal similar to what l have
here said,' he said ito the Commissioners.
and got reply in writing that nothing
be aone."
Mr.. Curtis said he had had interviews
the market, and he had found them to be
unanimously in favor of allowing the coun-
try people to remain where they have been
for so many years past.
Board of Public Works Agreement.
Mr.. N. G. Ordway, president of the
market company, said that many of those
present or those who preceded them in
business have occupied their present
stands for fifty years. and the privilege Of
occupying them as they exist at this time
was In pursuance of an agreement with the
beard of public works. Gen. Ordway said
that when he was an officer of the House
OF Representatives he was approached by
man who row lives in Washington, and
that the latter demanded $4,000 in the
stock of the market company because, as
he alleged, he and his friends mad helped
to get Congress pass the bill granting the
charter.
The demand was, Mr.. Ordway said, re-
FUSED, and since that time various parties
nave been doing all they could to hamper
the operations Of the company.
Mr.. Ordway Talks.
Mr.. Ordway explained in detail how the
money required to build the market was
raised. 1t was found he said, that the first
enc hundred thousand dollars could not be
secured in Washington. and it was raised
by Senator Chandler and himself in Boston.
Mr.. Ordway then related the experience
the market company has had with Con-
Sress. Two years ago enough charges
against 1t were filed a page of paper, but
Representatives to fill page of paper but
all were proven to be untrue without diff
Guilty. and the replies of the company were
so satisfactory that the charges were laid
upon the table as unworthy of considera-
tCn.
The Order Unauthorized.
THE market company is said he, pay
IN q fpr .b.a
privilege of doing business here, and he
claimed that the Commissioners had no
right to issue the Objectionable order.
1.-THE hay market" he said, was
tablished on B street between 10th and 10Th
streets by Congress as place where farm
ers could sell their hay, oats, etc, at whole
sale without being subjected to any
charges.
1.-The market company says today: Your
rights shall be protected, and If there is no
way left to secure your rights and our
rights settled, let US go to Congress- The
Commissioners of the District are gentle
men, who, on account of the multiplicity of
their duties, are not able to hear either you
or the market company at all times, but be-
leve that the question can, If they and we
exhibit spirit of fairness, be satisfactorily
adjusted. and that they will not attempt to
push you up to where they have ordered
you to go. and which will be at the risk of
sacrificing life
heSOIut1ohS Adopted.
Mr.. B. Bryan offered a resolution, which
" as adopted, protesting against the action
of the Commissioners, and declaring that if
carried out before another place is provided
for them to go to such conduct would be in
human and cruel
Mr.. Washington Bonifant of Montgomery
county, Md. presented series of preambles
and a resolution The preambles set forth
among other things, that The laws and ordi-
nances of the city of Washington have for
nearly one hundred years allowed the farm
ers and actual producers to stand upon the
sidewalks and market their own products
around the various markets in the city.
The resolution provided for a petition
to allow the District of Columbia to be rep
resented in the House of Representatives
by delegate, but this was laid on the
table for further consideration
The mass meeting then adjourned until
Saturday at pm.
The COmmissiOners' Attitude,
1t would seem from the attitude of the
&C mmissicners in their controversy with
the Center market that they proposed to
carry out their original idea of moving the
farmers from the north side of B street.
reporter OF The Star called Major Pow
ellis attention to the order of the market
company, printed in yesterdays Star, to
the effect that rather than Inconvenience
the patrons of the market the company
hereafter Will not lnSlSC upon lne payment
of fees from the farmers who occupy the
Eorth side Of B street between 1th and 9th
streets. Major Powell. however, was of the
opinion that this concession On the part of
the market had not helped matters at all
The Commissioners had decided to move
the farmers to the wholesale market
square, and the order would be enforced.
The Commissioners. he said, did not recos-
nize any difference between. retailers and
wholesalers. and he was surprised to hear
that any special rights should be claimed
by those who retail their products The
cigarmakers of the city, he said had an
equal right to demand of the Commission
ers that a public space be set aside for
them to dispose Of their goods. The Com
m:ssioners, he reiterated. had decided to
move the farmers from B street They
would have the whole winter to profit by
the experience Of the move, and next spring
II any changes were necessary they could
be made.
1t was suggested by The Star reporter
that many opposed the moving of the farm
ers because it would inconvenience the riti-
Zens who patroniZed them
Maj. Powell was, however, of the opinion
that very few of the ladies of Washington
bought from the farmers and would be
Inconvenience by the order. They bought
most of their goods, he said from the
market stores and hucksters.