THE EARL OF AIRLIErose to ask, Whether Her Majesty's Government intended to propose any measure for the better regulation of the trade of travelling hawkers and pedlars? Their Lordships had, no doubt, seen a letter in the newspapers signed by a noble Lord whom, he did not now see present (Lord Kinnaird), on the subject of the proposal made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to remit the Excise duties on hawkers' licences; and he believed that many similar representations had been made against the proposed remission. Now, he must say that these objections did not appear to him to be well founded. It must be remembered that the present tax pressed heavily upon a class of poor men, whose customers were also poor; and, as everyone knew, the mere possession of a licence afforded a very small guarantee as to the respectability of the holder of it. Indeed, it appeared to him that the present system tended rather to throw obstacles in the way of the police; for if they had any reason to think that a particular hawker was a suspicious character, he had only to produce his licence, and the police could not interfere further with him. The objections he thought rather tended to the adoption of some substitute to the present system rather than that it should be continued. At the same time there could be no doubt it was necessary that there should be police supervision, or check of some kind upon this class of persons. Many of them, he did not doubt, were struggling to earn a respectable living for themselves and their families; but there were many of whom that could not be said. They went about the country pretending to sell small articles, but really looking about for what they could steal: they were a great means of inducing others to steal; their houses of call were often the receptacles of stolen goods, and the haunts of poachers. Some of them were 624 sturdy beggars, going about the country when the men were absent at work, and compelling the women in the houses to give them money. There was, therefore, a clear case for police supervision of some kind. He thought that a system of registration might be adopted, and that this might be so arranged as to put an effectual check upon the evils of the system without any inconvenience to the respectable class of hawkers.
THE EARL OF MORLEYsaid, he would not go at length into the question, but he could inform his noble Friend that Her Majesty's Government were of opinion that, if the proposals of the Chancellor of the Exchequer should be carried into effect, some such arrangement as his noble Friend suggested would be necessary, and in all probability, a measure for that purpose would be introduced into Parliament in the course of the present Session.