Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-16
THEY WANT PEDDLERg
SCoMA1IssIoN5 MEN. sAY..HUCKsTERs
ARE MARKETS SAFETY VALVE.
ADVANTAGES O E C MPETlTI0N
Placing Of Surplus on Streets Brings.
Down the Pr1ces-Would Increase
the Demand Fort Per Cent--sA s
Battle Roy1aI. Imminent

I 3
There is growing sentiment among
the commission men Of this city favor
ing peddlers According to the dealers
the need of buck sters was clearly de-
nlonstrated few days ago when
bananas were selling around 10 and Is
cents a. bunch, and egg-plants eleven
crates for the lump sum Of 50 cents
Were peddlers allowed son the streets OF
the city then would the glut of bananas
have been relieved, the poor supplied
With fruit at a most reasonable and at
tractive figure, and no one-not even the
retailers-injured because the people who
would buy at 5 cents are not that5class
who pay Is and 20 cents dozen regu-
fiarly for this fruit. i.
Commission men claim that hucksters
act as a safety-valve to the market and
without peddlers. the wholesalers, com
mission men, shippers of fruit. and 5vege-
tables, and the purchasing public are at a
disadvantage in selling or consuming the
market products. Through the absence
Of peddlers there is littles.Or no co1npeti-.
ton. therefore. the public pays the price.
This la1 which is winked at, it is said.
in Norfolk, Portsmouth,, Danvi1e. and
q
considered by some of the ab1est law
yers in the profession as a piece of class
legislation, while one member of the bar
who is intimate with the laws governing
the city has. .unhesita tingly said twas
the most ubiquitous law passed bys the
Legislature since the civil war. BY pro-
hibiting peddling the city is curtailing its
| revenue. it is said, for if the license was
made $50 there would be enough taken
In ipS1 cffv
than it now derives from all the retail
! men in the city put together. ~
WHATaTHEY ASK FOR.
In making a plea for the peddler a
member of one Of the largest and most
reliable commission houses in the CITY
said: I'VE are asking, only for the pri-
vilege Of being able to put our surplus
produce upon the streets,.espec ially when
| there is a glut in any particular line,
iii order to protect prices and to keep
our market from going to wreck as is
evident from the present condition. For
instance. we are forced to sell apples t
auction for 81 or s1.25 a barrel that should
| be- bringing at least 81 more. and this
| additional. price we would get for the
| farmer and ourselves if we could dispose
| of these apples around the outskirts OF
the city where people are anxious to
| buy, 1but are without reach. Should we
ber:granted the privilege of peddling we
can~ increase the demand 40 per cent in
| this city, and benefit 80 per cent. Of the
| people including the farmers and ::frL..t
| growers of the State, asseit certainly
means more money for their produce.
1--WE are among the highest-tax ed mer-
[ chants in the State. and should be al
lowed some way In which we might In
! crease our business rather than have it
! deteriorate. =
s"It is fact that this is the only State
/ in the United States where they have
such Discriminating law. We do not
ask to have the bars taken down and tic
| allow anybody and everybody; ;peddle
goods on our. streets. but we do want this
I power placed in the hands Of reliable
merchants who have the interest. of ou1
| city and State at heart We are the
/ agents of the farmers and producers
throughout the State and there is nc
reason why we should not have the same
/ privileges as the farmers of Hanover anG
1 1Hehrico% counties, who send their hireG
help to this market. not only to sci
1 their own products, but to buy and ped
!! die as home grown tstuff vegetables anc
! fruit that is sold upon our streets.
WANT ANelNSPECTOR.; 4.
ITO those critics who believe that ped
| dlers disseminate unhealthy and rotter
! food we would say that no one would
! welcome the advent Of a pure food In
/ spector more than the commission mer
chants Of Richmond. That is what we
! want. It would help our own bushes.
/ to have this kind of stuff condemned il
the hands of the railroads or expires.
! companies.