The herald., 1897-06-20
Producers Again Ask for a
Reduction
THE REQUEST is DENIED
MORE MEN NEEDED FOR THE
STREET DEPARTMENT
Mr.. Drain Asks for the Immediate
Employment of Eighty Laborers
and Twenty Teams-Notes

At the meeting Of the finance commit
lee Of the city council yesterday, all the
members were present while number
Of citizens were also in attendance. The
representatives of the Eagle Rock and
Burbank producers, who appeared be-
fore the committee at the last meeting
to urge the granting Of their petition
for lower rents at the market and max
ing certain changes in the ordinance
regulating the sale Of fruits and vegeta-
bles on the streets, were again on hand.
The gentlemen insisted that 1t was o
hardship on the producers to compel
them to patronize the public market and
pay high rent for stalls and then i'm
pose an additional peddling license If
they wished to leave the market and sell
to dealers throughout the city.
Under the existing ordinance those
who utilize the market are compelled to
remain at their stalls until 10 a. M, be-
fore they can go outside to dispose Of
their products. This, the gentlemen
claimed, is a most unjust discrimination,
for while they were tied up at the mar
ket the commission men were allowed to
peddle to dealers without paying IL
cense and that the law was not enforced
in a great many cases where the pro-
ducers do not go to the market at all, but
sell to dealers The rent of stalls varies
from $1.5O to SO month, while the Ii
cense for peddling vegetables is IS and
that for fruit 81. The protestants urged
that their market receipts should entitle
them to sell at the market until cer-
tain hour, which they fixed at o'clock,
and then should permit them to sell
wherever they pleased. They asserted
that the fruit business is being ruined by
so many oppressive licenses, fees ard
taxes.
Deputy City Attorney Thomas was
sent for to explain some of the legal OBJ
stacles to granting the petition. Mr..
Thomas said that the council could not
pass an ordinance making the market
receipts serve as license certificates He
thought, however, that all producers
could dispose of their products to regu
lar customers without the payment of
any license fee at all, provided that they
did not solicit orders while 80 doing.
In the matter of reducing the rent OF
the stalls, the committee stated plainly
that this could not be done at this time
The market has never been self-sustain-
ing, and until at least this point was
reached they did not see how they could
recommend cutting down the revenue.
After some further general debate, the
committee decided to recommend that
the producers be permitted to sell to
dealers at their places of business from
and after a. M, but to do this they
would have to take, out regular fruit
peddling licenses 1t was also recon-
mended that the police department be
instructed to strictly enforce the ordi-
nance requiring all vendors to obtain
licenses before selling on the streets.
Representatives of the city laundries
again appeared and urged the passage
of an ordinance requiring all solicitors
for out-of-town laundries to pay IL
cense fee of $40 per month. The matter
was referred to the city attorney for an
opinion as to the authority of the coun-
Gil in the case
1t was recommended that $500 be
transferred from the Echo park fund to
the Elysian park fund.
In the matter of the proposed bond is
Sues 1t was decided to defer action un-
til the supreme court has decided the
case now pending, which will settle the
question whether bonds can be made
payable in gold coin or in lawful money
Of the United States
After approving the usual demands,
auditing the reports etc., the commit
tee adjourned.