Sessional_Paper_1947 — Page 14

10

17. But having indulged in that counsel of perfection, we cannot burke the incontrovertible fact that, as things are at present, hawking provides the rice bowl of very large numbers of people, most of whom we must credit with the motive of trying as best they can to earn an honest living. It would be cruel to smash this rice-bowl by prohibiting hawking at once summarily and entirely before some satisfactory alter- natives have been evolved to enable those of the poor for whom we are responsible here to make an honest living, and to replace such useful services as hawkers at present render. Nor would it be practicable to impose the task of complete suppression at present on a police force which is still short of trained and experienced men and which is in any case more than fully occupied with the more important duties of combating major crime. Even if complete suppression were practic- able, it might in present circumstances bring even greater evils in its train; not all the hawkers driven off the streets might return to their homes in China; many might simply become beggars and a charge on the Government relief department or resort to a life of crime.

18. We are inevitably driven therefore to devise some form of interim short-term policy and measures whereby hawkers in quite considerable numbers can be licensed and facilities provided whereby they may continue to earn their living.

C. GENERAL POLICY AND MEASURES ADVOCATED FOR CONTROL AND FOR THE PROVISION FACILITIES.

OF

19.

IV. HAWKERS MARKETS.

We recommend that to cope with the present emergency situation simple markets for stationary hawkers, as distinct from the mobile door-to-door pedlars whom we mention later in this report,-be established in open spaces, where such are now available, and in certain prescribed side-streets. We regard with favour the suggestion that in areas where market facilities are at present inadequate it might in addition be possible to resume certain bombed-out sites and level and pave them to serve as temporary hawkers markets pending the provision of more adequate permanent market accommodation. As regards existing side-streets and available open spaces we annex in Annexure 1 to this report lists prepared by the Police and Urban Council departments of streets and open spaces where stationary hawking might be permitted subject to licence and other special controls. It is estimated that the streets and spaces set out in these lists could accommodate about 12,700 hawkers as a maximum. But in order that such streets and open spaces may not be too closely packed this number might have to be reduced by about 2,000. In addition it should be possible to issue about 3,500 of the new form of licence the Pedlars Licence, which we suggest in para. 36 below, about 600 licences to newspaper sellers, about 250 native craft hawkers licences, and about 300 steamship hawkers licences, making a grand total of the order of 15,000. This number would be increased by the extent to which it might be possible to make other open spaces available.

20. We recommend further that these streets and open spaces be marked off in small allotments of equal sizes for allocation to licensed hawkers. No hawker should be allowed to carry on his trade in any other place than the area allotted to him, the description of which should be stamped on his licence.