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Part 1 Observations + Cd 16
Police Bill Observations
1 Licentiandi
§§1 [12] [Class the ninth] p.8. It seems probable that the effect
of the licence system upon this class of traders will
be to annihilate it. As the workers in metals
will never find any difficulty in applying themselves obtaining a sufficient
with supply of the old metals they want from the
Licensed purchasers, the honest among them will
not find it worth their take out a licence to
purchase of persons at large, because they will not
for the sake of what extra profit advantage may be made in
obtained by purchasing in that way, deem it worth
their while to hamper themselves with a licence;
nor will the dishonest, because they will rest under that
incumbrance see a sufficient probability of their
being able to continue their dishonest practices.
But this will not be productive of any such inconvenience as that of diminishing in any degree the
mass of trade in these articles; nor were will it necessarily
diminish the total number if persons subjected
to licence: since whatever purchases are ceased to
be made of the persons in general by the
workers in metal, will be made of the licenced
purchasers for sale, whose number may perhaps (though it
must be confessed not necessarily) increase as the
number of working purchasers purchasers purchasing
the article of persons at large decreases.
An additional reason for subjecting bringing the
of the licence system to bear upon the this case
of this class in this case of second hand articles is; that owing
to a piecemeal concert about things fixed to the freehold
and savouring of the realty, or use of theft of which the thief
if an article of this sort is the subject matter is in
many instances not punishable as for a crime