1870. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



651 



followlDg State law, passed in 1859, and still 



in I'orce : — 



Sect. 1. The City of Boston shall make no by- 

 law, ordinance or regulation excluding from the 

 occupation of street stands, within the limits of 

 Faneuil Hall Market in said city, as the same are 

 or may be defined in the city ordinances, for the 

 sale of fresh provisions and perishable produce, 

 any persons taking such stands for the sole pur- 

 pose of selling such fresh provisions as perishable 

 produce ; provided the same are the product of the 

 farm of the person oflfering them for sale, or of 

 some farm within ten miles of the residence of 

 such person ; or are to be sold at wholesale only 

 by the party offering the same for sale on commis- 

 sion for, or as agent for some person or persons 

 not residing or having a usual place of business 

 •within eight miles ot said market ; or are meats to 

 be sold at wholesale only by the person who 

 slaughtered the animals of which the same was a 

 part. Approved, April 6, 1859. 



And also the following city ordinance passed 



Dec. 14, 1857 :— 



Any person may offer and sell, from house to 

 houbc, in any of the public streets, lanes, alleys or 

 squares in this city, from carts, wagons or sleighs, 

 any meat, poultry, vegetables, fruits, or other arti- 

 cle of provisions, on all days when Faneuil Hall 

 is open. 



In the 34th section of the city regulations 

 in relation to carriages, it is provided that the 

 rule forbidding vehicles to stop in the streets 

 more than five minutes, without some suitable 

 person to take care of them, or more than 

 twenty in any case, shall not apply "to the 

 vehicles of market or provision men who may 

 stand with the same without the limits of 

 Faneuil Hall Market until eleven o'clock in 

 the forenoon, at such places in the city as the 

 board of aldermen may designate, for the 

 purpose of vending provisions." 



That the provisions of these laws relating 



to peddling in the streets of the city are not 



dead letters, though not extensively practiced, 



probably for the reason that families prefer to 



obtain their supplies in other ways, is evident 



from the fact that from 20 to 40 peddler's 



carts are filled every morning at Faneuil Hall 



Market, as may be seen by any early riser who 



will visit the market about day light; and 



from the fact that the police officers report 



that in May last there were 93 wagons going 



from house to house in different sections of 



the city. 



Question 2. Amount of space at the market 

 houses and on the streets which they are allowed 

 to occupy. 



There is no space in the buildings appropri- 

 ated to this purpose. In the streets adjoining 

 Faneuil Hall there is room specially designed 

 for this purpose sufficient to accommodate 



about 200 wagons ; but sometimes as many as 

 500 find accommodation by using a portion of 

 Commercial, Blackstone and other adjacent 

 streets. Here, as elsewhere in Boston, busi- 

 ness lacks elbow room, and farmers, team- 

 sters, and even pedestrians are somewhat dis- 

 commoded thereby. 



Question 3. Prices obtained by middlemen or 

 hucksters compared with the rates allowed by them 

 to producers. 



We have not the data for a reliable answer 

 to this question. Statements have been made 

 of a great advance in selling, over buying 

 prices, in some cases, and instances have been 

 related in which articles have been sold much 

 under cost. We know of no market regula- 

 tion or practice which gives undue advantages 

 to "middlemen or hucksters." Here, as in 

 all other branches of business, sharpers and 

 tricksters occasionally show their hands, but 

 not more often, we believe, than in other de- 

 partments of trade. 



Question 4. The bearing of prevalent usages 

 of commission-men upon the interests of producers. 



We know of none that have an injurious 

 effect. No farmer is obliged to employ them. 

 Any one can do so who chooses. A large 

 amount of business is done by them. They at 

 least furnish the second string to the bow of 

 farmers. If not satisfied with the prices of- 

 fered by buyers at home, farmers send their 

 produce to the commission dealers, whose 

 terms and conditions of doing the business are, 

 or may be, well known. Farmers, we think, 

 are also benefited by these commission dealers, 

 in their tendency to destroy the effect of com- 

 binations among the ordinary dealers. A far- 

 mer comes to market with a load of butter, 

 pork, beans, potatoes, apples, beef, mutton or 

 other produce. He does not wish to retail. 

 The wholesale buyers are ugly. They offer 

 lower prices than he thinks they ought to pay. 

 The commission houses give him a chance of 

 testing the market by the use of their facili- 

 ties ; and whether he get more or less than he 

 was offered by regular buyers, he is better 

 satisfied than he would have been to accept 

 what he believed was less than market price. 

 A drover finds a sticky market ; there is no 

 "turkey" in all the talk of the butchers ; they 

 don't want his cattle or sheep at any price. 

 He thinks they are bluffing, and turns over 

 his stock to be butchered and marketed on 

 commission. 



