Secrist—The Anti-Auction Movement of 1828 . 
151 
known as the New York Anti-Auction Cbmmittea In June it 
submitted a report called, “Reasons Why the Present Auction 
System Should m Abolished.” 11 Summarized, they are as 
follows: 
1st, Auctions are a monopoly 12 which crushes the middle 
class and divides the people into rich and poor. 
2nd, Auctions tend to concentrate trade in a few cities. 
3rd, They are destructive to domestic manufacturers, mer¬ 
chants, and to the market in general. They remove all induce¬ 
ments to excel, and cause rapid fluctuations in prices. 
4th, They make it possible for one state to tax another: 
the taxing power should be in the hands of the Central Govern¬ 
ment. 
5th, They make the sale of contraband goods easy. 
6th, They are pernicious to internal trade. 
7th, They injure consumers generally by enhancing the 
price, 13 and induce dealers to handle inferior goods. 
8th, They create unnatural competition! ahd encourage 
overtrading. 
9 th, They produce the “pernicious effects of gambling” 
due to rapid changes in price. 
10th, They facilitate fraudulent bankruptcies, while the 
auctioneers “form a monied aristocracy, influencing the banks, 
controlling by the fear of their displeasure, the free expression 
of public opinion, and are hostile to the genius of republican 
government.” 
These “reasons” certainly smack of mercantilism, and are 
typical for the period 1812 to 1830. A definite program was 
not outlined at this time, but at a “large and respectable meeting 
of mechanics and citizens,” 14 October 10th, 1828, called by the 
Anti-Auction Committee, pursuant to a resolution made in May, 
11 Niles Register Yol. 34, p. 258. Also in pam. form in Wis. Hist. 
Library. 
12 In 1829, there were 56 state-appointed auctioneers in N. Y. 
13 The state fixed the number. N. Y. American 1 /16/29, p. 2, col. 1. 
See an interesting discussion between Mercator, “a consumer”, and 
McDuffie, N. Y. AM. Jan. 2-3-6-9-10-12-17, 1829. 
14 N. Y. Ev. Post Oct. 14, 1828, p. 1, col. 5-2000-2,600 present, ibid. 
Oct. 21, 1828. 
