Among other regulations, the hawker or pedlar is required by the Act to " cause to be written in large legible Roman capitals. upon the most conspi cuous part of every pack, box, bag, trunk, case, cart, or waggon, Or other vehicle in which he carries his goods, and of every room and shop in which he trades, and likewise upon every handbill or ad vertisement given out by him, the words Licensed Hawker,' together with the number, name, or other mark of his li cence ;" and in case of his omission so to do, he is liable to a penalty of 101.; and every unlicensed person who places these words upon his goods is liable to a penalty to the like amount. A hawker and pedlar travelling without a licence, or travelling and trading contrary to or otherwise than is allowed by the terms of his licence, or refusing to produce his li cence when required to do so by in spectors appointed by the commissioners, or by any magistrate or peace-officer, or by any person to whom he shall offer for sale, is liable in each case to a penalty of 10/. A person having a li cence, and hiring or lending it to another person for the purpose of trading with it, and also the person who so trades with another's licence, are each liable to a penalty of 40/. A hawker or pedlar dealing in or selling any smuggled goods, or knowingly dealing in or selling any goods fraudulently or dishonestly pro eared, forfeits his licence, and is for ever afterwards incap icitated from obtaining or holding a new licence. By the stat. 48 Geo. III. c. 81, s. 7, if any hawker or pedlar shall offer for sale tea, brandy, rum, geneva, or other foreign spirits, to bacco, or snuff, he may be arrested by any person to whom the same may be offered, and taken before a magistrate, who may hold him to bail to answer for the offence under the Excise laws.
By the provisions of the statutes 29 Geo. III. c. 26, § 6, and also of 50 Geo. III. c. 41, § 7, no person within the description of a hawker or pedlar can lawfully, either by opening a shop and exposing goods to sale by retail in any place in which he is not a householder or resident, or by any other means, sell goods either by himself or any other person by outcry or auction, under a penalty of 501. Hawkers were not allowed formerly to sell goods in market towns, except on a fair or market day ; but this restriction was done away with by 35 Geo. III. c. 91.
It is further provided by the 18th sec tion of the 50 Gee. III. c. 41, that if any person shall forge or counterfeit any hawker's or pedlar's licence, or travel with, or produce, or show any such forged or counterfeited licence, he shall forfeit the sum of 300/. Persons who hawk fish, fruit, victuals, or goods, wares, or manufactures made or manufactured by such hawkers, or by their children, are not required to take out a licence ; nor are tinkers, coopers, glaziers, plum bers, harness-menders, or other persons usually trading in mending kettles, tubs, household goods, or harness of any kind. (Chitty's Commercial Law, vol. ii. p. 163 ; Burn's Justice. tit. 'Hawkers.') The amount raised by these licences is too insignificant as an object of re venue. They are in fact a tax on the consumers, like all other licences. The true policy is to let a person sell his goods where and how he can. Compe tition will ensure the consumer here, as in other cases, the best and cheapest ar ticle. The pedlar carries his wares into districts where the people have not access to the best markets, and thus be tends to correct the dealings of the settled trader. He also carries his wares to people who would often not know of the existence them. The hawker is now one of the active instruments in diffusing cheap books among the population, and a large part of the sale of the cheap periodicals is in his hands, particularly in the north of England and in Scotland. Thirty years ago, Francis Horner, writing to kluged Bannatyne, of Glasgow, speaks of "that very remarkable traffic in books round Glasgow by itinerant retailers." The hawker is therefore employed in the diffusion of knowledge, and is a great benefactor to society, and as such should be free from all taxes that are imposed on him in addition to those which he and other dealers pay.
Amount of Revenue from Hawkers' Licences : England.
1800 8,963 1830 23,392 1810 17,898 1840 32,512 1820 29,236 1843 27,100 Scotland. 1840 3,284 1843 2,092 Rate paid for each Licence :— England. at £4. at .£8. at £12. at £16.
1820 5369 912 36 2 1830 6634 832 14 3 1840 6020 1005 30 2 1843 4793 927 40 2 Scotland.
1840 705 58 1843 411 56