HAWKERS AND PEDLARS.

Shannon News, 5 April 1928, Page 4

HAWKERS AND PEDLARS.

QUESTION OF LICENSE FEE.

“Hawkers arid pedlars are becoming a pest and a nuisance throughout the country,” said the Mayor pf Te Aroha, Mr. R. Coulter, at the Municipal Association Conference in Nelson. He was speaking on a remit urging that borough councils. should be empowered to increase the hawkers' license fees to £lO. “This conference should recommend a very substantial increase so that they may be able to control the activities of hawkers and pedlars,” he said. “Any man at all, no matter what his reputation may be, can get hold of a line of goods and hawk them about, to? the danger of the country. It seems to me that there should be very severe restrictions, and if we increase the fee we will gain a better measure of control.”

Mr. D. G. Sullivan (Christchurch) remarked that the hawking of goods was all that some had to turn to earn, a few shillings at the present time. In Christchurch inquiries were made before any license was granted, and it was found that that was a' sufficient safeguard. The Mayor of Eastbourne, Mr. H. M. Jones, supported the remit' fully. “Although I have some sympathy with those who go out on to the roads to ’earn a few shillings, still we have a duty to protect our people from the undesirable pests that come' into our town with articles, quite a lot of which are not worth buying.” Other delegates referred to cases where women had been intimidated into buying goods that they did not want. It was also pointed out that though the counties had power to impose a fee of £lO, the towns were limited to £l.

The conference agreed that action should be taken.