109 
'English Mmheis and Fairs. 
Generally S23eaking, it is chiefly in regard to animals that 
tolls are taken upon the “ quantity ” exposed for sale. In the 
case of corn, vegetables, meat, fish, &c., the more usual practice 
nowadays seems to be to charge a certain amount of rent for the 
occupation of a stall or situation in the market. There is an 
increasing tendency to substitute “ stallage,” or rents for space, 
for tolls on goods brought into the market. One evident ad- 
vantage is that the trouble of enumerating and checking the 
entries of articles, of examining the dimensions of baskets, &c., 
is avoided, and fewer disputes are likely to arise. On the other 
hand, the substitution of a system of stallage in place of toll 
tends to suppress the small producer and to drive all the trade 
into the hands of the middlemen. The cottager with his basket 
of eggs, or the small farmer or gardener with his load of vege- 
tables, cannot afford to rent a stall, and is consequently comjielled 
— under an uniform system of stallage — to reach the consumer 
through the stall-holder. 
Tolls and stallage are quite distinct, and may both be chai’ged 
in the same market. In fact, the jDroceeds of each might belong to 
a different person. Thereis no reason, therefore, either historically 
or practically — so far as appeal’s — why both systems should not con- 
tinue, as in many cases they do, side by side in the same market. 
An attempt has been made, though with very partial 
success, to ascertain the ratio which tolls bear to the prices of 
commodities sold in the markets. Most of the market owners 
from whom information was sought either ignored that par- 
ticular inquiry, or, if they attempted an answer, replied “ in- 
finitesimal ” or “ impossible to say.” A little information is 
forthcoming with regard to some of the chief London markets, 
from which it appears that, at the Centi’al Meat Market, the toll 
amounts to -5-^ of the price. At Deptford Foreign Cattle 
Market the toll ranges from 3J3- in the case of calves to -yig- in the 
case of bullocks. At the Metro|Dolitan Cattle Market the ratio 
is very much less, ranging from for calves to ^^r 
bullocks. At Birmingham the toll on potatoes is of the price 
(or 8 d. in the pound), and on butter Generally speaking, on 
high-priced articles sold in considerable bulk the toll is inap- 
preciable ; but on others, such as baskets of vegetables, eggs, 
butter, &c., it bears a more serious proportion. 
The rights under which markets are held being, to say the 
least, in many cases rather obscure, it is not to be wondered at 
that instances are discoverable where the powers exercised 
exceed the limits laid down by charter or statute. The most 
frequent instance of this tendency is to charge tolls on other 
days than those authorised. Thus, for examjfie, at Bridgwater, 
the market is authorised by Act of Parliament for three days in 
