THE COSTERS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 188, 4 May 1908, Page 9

THE COSTERS.

—■ —r— —4 . ' MONTHLY BALLOT FOR. PLACES. . The:-fruit hawkers, with their. ,barrows,! lined.up at the.Town Hall on Friday morn-' ing to draw for tho places they aro t<J occupy in,'-the. streets, during tho' month of May. With tho. colder weather and.the falling off bbtli in the supply and the, demand for fruit, tho number of applicants for. licences has dropped from. 30 to 18.- Consequently, it- was ■"all prizes, 'no blanks" at Friday'slottery.. ■- .' Inspector Doyle had some trouble with tho costers during last/ month. A few .of thorn had been found at different/ times wandering away from their allotted stands and selling tlieii'lwares in the busier parts of'tho streets. This, with all its attendant possibilities of • obstruction /to traffic -and annoyance to shopkeepers, was just wh&t the system of conditional licences was designed to prevent. ■, One of tho men had• talked of legal opinion, arid seemed .'deter-' milled to persist in his' own view of his rights. • -Sir. Doyle let the month run out' without, taking action, hut on Friday morning, before the ballot was held, he told those who had broken the regulations 'that there; would be. no licences for them. A little parleying followed,, plain-spoken - but good-hum-oured, and in tlie\end the ,men promised to, obsorvo' tho conditions imposed upon them, and all the licences wore renewed for another, month; Mr. Doylo hopes the trouble is over. ' . , It was supposed that some of tho applicants on former occasions were not bona fido costers, and that there had been some trading in. stands. That was why tho barrows had to be produced on Friday morning. A rumour of a fruit hawkers', trust is not credited by the. Inspector. ./ ; Mr. Doyld points out that' tlio Corporation has power to license hawkers of almost all kinds of goods, with tho cxeeotion of books, freshly-caught' fish, and ono" or two other things. No fco may be charged for'licences to sail perishable foodstuffs, and that expression obviously includes fruit. Tho authorities are not making anything out of the hawkers,, but are simply regulating their activities in tho interests oj public order.