Boy-Salesmen

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 561, 14 January 1929, Page 8

Boy-Salesmen

Auckland’s Youthful Street-Vendors JN Auckland more than in any other city in the Dominion street trading among children is pursued with a keenness which reveals the existence of born salesmen of the real ‘■go-getting” type. The operations of these boy-vendors are strictly regulated by City Council by-laws, but social workers are strongly advocating Governmental regulations under the Child Welfare Act to tighten up the restrictions upon children in the streets after certain hours.

'J'HE governing of street-trading

among children was prompted originally by a desire to keep the young people off the streets, particularly in the evenings, when the tendency toward mischief Was found to be greater than during the daytime. Under the Child Welfare Act the Governor-General is empowered to issue regulations to cover this particular phase of social work, but up to the present time nothing of the kind has been gazetted, as the activities of the small boys have been con-

ducted under the by-laws of the Auckland City Council. Approximately 60 lads are vending their respective wares In the streets and entertainment houses of this city. No hoy under the age of 11 years and no girl under 13 years Is permitted to trade in the streets without a licence. Boys between the ages of 11 and 16 years, and girls between 13 and 16 years, may do so, however, providing they are licensed by the council, the Issue of the licence depending first upon their fitness to work and secondly upon the consent of their parents or guardians. No fee is charged for the licence, but the recipient must wear a badge on the arm signifying that he has qualified to sell. The streets must be cleared of these youthful salesmen by 9 o’clock in the evening, and in the winter months —from April 1 to September 30—children who are not especially exempted from school must cease their operations at 7 o’clock Vending during school hours is strictly barred. The chief stock-in-trade of boy

street-sellers, of course, comprises newspapers, periodicals and sporting pamphlets, and as the competition in all of these lines is exceptionally keen, the incentive to get the business through and record a handsome turnover provokes many of the youngsters to sail close to the regulations governed by their licences. Psychiatrists and social students are divided in their opinions upon the effects which street-selling produces upon the mind of the child. Many claim that if a lad is a born salesman he should be given an opportunity to cultivate his talent along legitimate and decent lines. On the other hand it is asserted by moralists that the continual association of a child with the streets is degrading and likely to influence the young mind prematurely upon some of the sterner facts of life. OFFICIAL BACKING The boy who sells because his heart is in selling cannot be made the object of this criticism, for it is noticeable that when a lad of this type secures his licence and his badge he enters the battle with all comers, proud of the fact that hb has documentary evidence behind him in his job—a qualification of which many of his superiors in other walks of life caunot boast. No licences have been issued to girls in Auckland, although a woman takes part successfully in newspaper street sales at one of the city’s busiest corners. Thirty-eight new licences were issued to boys during the current year since March 31. The welfare of the boys is watched carefully by a benevolent Child Welfare branch and by the vigilant officers of the city traffic department under Mr. G. R. Hogan. It is forbidden that boys shall enter hotels where intoxicants are sold. DIFFICULT JOB Usually it is a breach of the regulations for a city officer to enter a hotel while in uniform, but the man who is assigned the duty of caring for the street-sellers may enter at will, whether uniformed or not. His job,; is not an easy one, for it sometimes happens that he chases a hard-case lad out the front door of a licensed hostelry only to find a little later that the determined youth has re-entered the place through the back door. As the law stands at present the State does not regulate boy streettraders. Many people interested in child -welfare consider it is the Government’s job. “The Government should lay its cards on the table about this question,” one man said. “The Governor-General has wide powers under the Child Welfare Act, but it seems that the Government which has just gone out of office was afraid to approach it because of its delicacy.” In Auckland, however, Mr. Hogan reports that all is well, and that, apart from the necessary irksome difficulties, the conduct of budding salesmen is exemplary.