New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-22
PEDLER A MODERN GOLIATH
Pushcart Army Soon Too Great
for City to Control.
MANY ILLEGALLY PLY TRADE
Settlement Investigator Con,
vinoed That Open Air Mar
ket Is Only Solution.

Neyer since the Mayor had him investi-
gated. in 1906, has the pushcart pedler
neen so conspcuously in the public eye as
now Every one IS inquiring into his profits
and losses and saying where his cart should
be stationed.
Dr. Edward Ewing Pratt a member of
The Food Investigating Commission, re-
ouegted the University settlement to under
take a comprehensive investigation of the
r,Ishcart men. but the settlement under
took the task only for its own district
which Is from Grand street TO Houston and
from Norfolk TO Chrystie. The settlement
agreed. however, to organize the work for
other parts of the city,
The investigation six years ago was
made on May -. and for comparison the
same day was chosen this year. hut the
weather vetoed the arrangement and the
date was postponed a week In district
of less than thlrty-fiye blocks. where 6Sl
carts were found six years ago. this years
investigation disclosed GAO The industries
were no more diverse than formerly. since
the ingenuity of the pedlers had used up
Fish we're missing from the articles for
sale this year because the vendors had
migrated to the space beneath the Will
iamsburg Bridge. The variety among the
stocks In trade was APPARENTLY limitess
Rat traps, ladies' furs, silk stockings. toys
drygoods. shoes-in fact, everything except
real estate" as one investigator remarked
One man had a fourishing business In
Epectacles
The inspection is not yet completed, but
Richard Neustadt, who is in charge Of IT,
feels that it has gone far enough 10 define
certain recommendations. He explained
the situation as he found it to reporter
for The Tribune:
Organize Against Police.
Every street is unionized separately" he
said There is the Rivington Street Citi-
gen Pedlers' Protective Association, and so
on for each street they frequent. The ped
lers contend that police interference
amounts to oppression and they organize
and use the union dues to protect them
selves from the police
81 recall a funny incident at the mass
meeting held in Cooper Union by the Inter
national Pedlers' Protective Federation or
America list of speakers had been pub
lished, including several persons who failed
10 appear when the time came. The meet
ing however, was fairly thrilling, with ev-
erybody calling everybody else names. ]
never saw such a mob the hall was
damned. but the rampant enthusiasm was
suddenly chilled when one speaker an
nounced that the hall had cost 1874 and
hats would be passed to raise this amount
In five minutes there were scarcely two
hundred persons left in the place.
"sinoe the Mayors investigation in 1906
practically no new licenses have been Is
sued and only 2,S0O have been renewed.
This means that a large majority Of the
pushcarts now engaged in business are
Illegal II also increases the need FOR an
organized union to protect them from police
interference and TO prevent outsiders from
coming into the game by means Of wise
ennIication of that same interference Some
of those who have licenses have secured
perrnits that are out of date or That were
issued TO some one else We found one
pedler who had actually paid politician
Ss5 for an old g license. But this was an
extreme case
The 1905 commission recommended allow
ing four push carts TO a block TO stand
~
would give the housewife eight carts at
each street crossing in the congested DIS
tricts. In the less crowded streets, II was
proposed TO let them stand all along the
street. provided each one changed its To-
cation Al twenty-minute intervals. TINS
law was never enforced and the entfe
lranort of The pushcart commission was
pigeon-holed.
For Open Market System.
we have scheme we think better than
that" ssid Mr.. Neustadt, "and we nope Il
will succeed because we have the peuieIS
with u.s. We are going to recommend the
open air markets. The sites suggested are
under the Manhattan Bridge from Henry
10 Monroe street Cat present used ioi
storage Of cobble stones; Houston street
at the river where the Long Island farm
ers used TO have an old market, III flrst'
avenue. from Sd street 10 l4th; In Park
avenue. from 10th to 18th Cunder the Ne"
York Central tracks, and the dock space
In the Greenwich district. Then there IS
a market in Ninth avenue.
These would pretty well take care OF
Manhattan and The Bronx is not at pres
en-, a nusbcart centre Since the Food IN
yestIeat,ng Commission is backing the
scheme 10 establish a regular Market .hel 30
there doesn't seem TO be any heeu io'
a pedlers depot
I'VE think the pushcart business ous",
10 he confined TO fruit and vegetables anu
leave the. drysoods and hardware 10 inc
shops. II seems useless 10 have pushcai u
for such wares and in the case OF sHoe'
It doesn't seem Just the thing tor inc
purchaser 10 have 10 sit on inc cuiD -
a nearby stoop TO try them on
The present law requires the apph1an'
for a license 70 have taken out MS his'
papers. and a pedler who would rene" ms
license must be a citizen. TINS law - re-
pestedlv broken. says Mr.. Newstadt' VINO
regards II as a nuisance and thinks LICENSEES
should be issued without regard 10 cluzeh-
ship. the number TO be restricted OILY pS
the number of spaces in the market
Rental 10 Benefit City.
Instead of a license fee, he advocates
space rents paid 20 the city. Inc peo!eiS
say they would pay 81 a week ana such d
sum would keep out all bat the legitimate
street merchants. However. Mr. Neus'adt
points out the impossibiIiiy Oh the e''S
making weekly collections and ne reBa'u l
so a year as a lot Of money when psiu IN
a lump sum.
Another thing shown up by the present
study is the lack OF proper Inspection one
man has the district from Houston stree'
10 the Battery, east OF Broadway ~ J"
because there are too few inspectors that
the Roara NJ Health has failed IN its at