El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-05-28
Declare It Is a Good Way to
Discourage Development
of the Valley-Alderman
Thinks Sanitary Provis-
ions Necessary.

Joining the union men who thres ten
to buy their goods in bulk at whole
sale and ship them into the city If
the grocers keep up their fight on the
hucksters the valley farmers now
threaten to take a hand Counsel mas
heen engaged TO fight the tax which
the city council has been asked Dy the
grOcers to place upon huckster4 me
valley vegetable growers declare that
If the city is going to discourage muck
s+ers il means a hard blow at the de-
valonment Of the agricultural resources
of the valley
| The grocers declare that thay are
ONLY after the hucksters who buY ana
sell and not after the men VINO peddle
their own stuff, but the valley farmers
say that is not the way the ordinance
roads and declares also that as every
! roTIev buckster buys few oranges ami
harries to go with his stock Of yege-
+abIes he will be hit by the new or'h-
| nance.
Insofar as the retail srocer5 VI the
CITY have entered a protest asaiii9I
the prastice Of permitting haskSleIs
ana other peddIers to woi K IN the CITY
80 having a license, an invcstiga-
ton shows that all pedd:crs pay StatF'
citv and county occupation taxes IN
addition to advalorem taxes on theH
outfits. while the grocers under tile
laws of the 31St legislature, paSSeu III
1907 are not compelled to pay any Out
the advalOrem taxes
peddler with q horse and wagon
,ave s11 % to the county and $3.50 10
the civ annually besides his advaioreIh
tax. while the ordinary peddler tnal
rms about the city with basket on
his arm peddl;rg goods pays SI-'o 70
the county and $3.50 TO the city LOT inc
privilege, while the mercnantS oulSlue
Of cigaret and liquor dealers pay no
occupation tax whatever accOi 0ie
civ and county officials
The Merchants Standpoint
los L. Sweeney. attorney for the re-
tail grocers, speaking OF the occupa-
tion tax which it is proposed 10 p!dcS
on peddlers, said Saturday morhlIlsN
1.-The ordinance will not a1Iecl INC
growers Of foodstuffs nor the manuIac-
tuners thereof nor their employees II
| is simpIv proposed to regulate the sale
| of different kinds of merchandise III
| the city limits and will affect those
Who purchase goods outside. ship them
| in and sell them about the streets
some of them do not pay any taxes
and it is the desire of the grocerS anu
others to force them to do this
.'The amount of the tax was not men
| toned in the ordinance, that being LETT
| for the city council to determine ana
! consequently a place was left plank
so that whatever amount is determined
unon bv the council may be inserted
From a Sanitary Point.
Alderman W. S. Clayton, discussing
the ordinance, which passed us mrs.
| reading last Thursday, said; There
has as yet been no opposition. and the
nrincipal reason why I should like to
see the ordinance go into effect IS q
| sanitary one We heard last week that
one of the hucksters had washed ms
| vegetables in a horse trough On wy
| onine- street. and that is dangerous,
| because horses drinking therefrom may
have very serious diseases L would
! also suggest that all peddlers be re-
quired to report at some certain place
| where their truck can be properly in
| spected by the sanitary officers. IN
| der present conditions many escape in
| spection. However, if there is any OBJ
| lection, we will lay the matter over
and investigate it before passing the
| ordinance, but if no opposition develops
| We will pass it Thursday"
Hucksters Protest.
| There was a meeting of huckSterS and
| others interested in the proposed or
| dinance Saturday morning in the office
| CT r l.. Nichols, who is their attor-
ney A protest was prepared and was
!
noon for consideration by the city
council before any action is taken on
| the proposed ordinance. This protest
sets forth the following allegations:
First that about rs men are en-
! gagged in this business in Ell Paso and
must support families
Second, that this cIamor for taxa
ton does not come from the people but
from the retail grocers who are not
paying any state, county or city occu-
patton taxes, while peddlers who have
two horses pay $50 a year, and there
fore the grocers should be the last to
complain.
Third. that many citizens Of FL Paso
live in the suburbs, where the small
ped to care for the fresh fruits and
vegetables, and If the hucksters are
taxed, they will not be able to get
fresh vegetables in these sections.
Market for Valley.
Fourth. that, while it does not seek
TO prevent the grower from selling his
produce, few Of the valley ranchers are
raising sufficient produce TO warrant
their running wagon, and the buck
SterS who purchase goods outside of the
city are able during July. August and
September TO purchase from these val
ley farmers, affOrding them a mar
ket, otherwise they would be at the
iAACA ~ " anu IN many IN
stances would be unable to dispose of
their produce, which is perishable and
cannot be kept long.
We therefore ask for conservative
action as we afford a more ADEQUATE
and better market for the valley grow
erS.
That, while we favor better sani-
tary conditions and are willing to CO.
operate with the city health depart
ment, we would be opposed to anything
that would compel our holding off un-
til or 10 o'clock for inspection and
thereby losing our trade.
Further, the present tax is suffi-
cient, but if we are Overruled, we would
ask that it be regulated along con-
sentative lines and that hucksters be
permitted to pay every six n1onths in
stead Of every month. And ask that
the amount of the tax De made pub
lie and given over to discussion before
definite action is taken
The Protc<tlnts
Those present at the p1ee+incr vxara