MarJcet Rights and Tolls. 
187 
Constables stated that unlicensed hawkers were often tramps or 
thieves in the disguise of traders. Of the second I will give one 
illustration. At Newcastle I received a deputation of costermongers, 
whose spokesman, Mr. Charles Smith, made this curious complaint 
(Vol. IV. p. 25) :— 
We feel that we r-hould like to take out a licence. We feel we are not 
respected as we should be, as other people in the same line in other towns 
are. We wish to pay a small sum a-year for a licence, that would cause a 
more respectable class of people to engage in our trade. It would do away 
with children sellers ; it is disgraceful to see that sort of thing going on in 
this town compared to other towns. 
Many hawkers and costermongers have expressed to me the same 
opinion, and it seems to me reasonable to expect that persons who 
pay something, however small, for the privilege of using the streets 
of a town for the purpose of trade would be more respected as a 
class by the inhabitants than those who pay nothing. 
The remaining subjects dealt with in the Report belong to 
administration rather than to general principles of government, but 
are of great importance to farmers and others who depend upon 
markets. Resolution 21 says, and with it few will be inclined to 
quarrel : — 
That all iuequahties of charges in respect of persons or ti-ading classes 
should be prohibited, except upon account of special advantages of position 
or accommodation. All exemptions of persons from market charges to 
cease. 
Resolution 22 says : — 
That money payments in all cases should be substituted for tolls in 
kind. 
It is sad to part with old friends, which remind us of the good 
old days of Pie Poudre Courts, but ready money is a great consoler, 
and we will say farewell to tongues of oxen, eggs, pints of corn, and 
the rest of them, with a good grace. 
A matter of much current interest is embodied in Resolution 23 : 
That markets which are now required to be provided with machines for 
weighing cattle should be furnished with sufficient and suitable accommo- 
dation for the same, the question of sufficiency and suitabihty to be deter- 
mined by the Board of Agriculture, after inspection. 
I am entirely in favour of this method of selling cattle, but I 
found very little support for it in the maikets which I visited. At 
Wakefield, which is one of the largest markets in England for home- 
bred cattle, there is one weighbridge, but it is scarcely ever used. 
It takes about ten minutes to weigh a beast upon it, so that about 
six beasts only could be weighed in an hour ; and yet I was asked 
to believe that it was " sufficient and suitable." To become popular 
this system must be made as simple and convenient as possible, and 
it should be taken for granted, in providing accommodation, that 
every farmer is a wise man, and will sell his cattle by live weight if 
he can find a machine. 
