University of Virginia Library

OF THE CAPITAL AND INCOME OF THE
COSTERMONGERS.

I shall now pass, from the consideration of the
individual earnings, to the income and capital
of the entire body. Great pains have been
taken to ensure exactitude on these points, and
the following calculations are certainly below
the mark. In order to be within due bounds,
I will take the costermongers, exclusive of
their wives and families, at 10,000, whereas it

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would appear that their numbers are upwards
of 11,000.

                   

1,000 carts, at 3l. 3s. each \[Donkeys, and occasionally ponies, are harnessed to barrows.\]	\cp\3,150
5,000 barrows, at 1l. each	10,000
1,500 donkeys, at 1l. 5s. each \[One intelligent man thought there were 2,000 donkeys, but I account that in excess.\]	1,875
200 ponies, at 5l. each \[Some of these ponies, among the very first-class men, are worth 20l.: one was sold by a coster for 30l.\]	1,000
1,700 sets of harness, at 5s. each \[All calculated as worn and second-hand.\]	425
4,000 baskets (or shallows), at 1s. each	200
3,500 stalls or standings, at 5s. each \[The stall and barrow men have generally baskets to be used when required.\]	875
10,000 weights, scales, and measures, at 2s. 6d. each \[It is difficult to estimate this item with exactitude. Many averaged the value at 3s. 4d.\]	1,250
Stock-money for 10,000 costers, at 10s. each	5,000
Total capital	\cp\24.135

Upwards of 24,000l., then, at the most mo-
derate computation, represents the value of the
animals, vehicles, and stock, belonging to the
costermongers in the streets of London.

The keep of the donkeys is not here mixed
up with their value, and I have elsewhere
spoken of it.

The whole course of my narrative shows that
the bulk of the property in the street goods,
and in the appliances for their sale, is in the
hands of usurers as well as of the costers. The
following account shows the sum paid yearly
by the London costermongers for the hire, rent,
or interest (I have heard each word applied) of
their barrows, weights, baskets, and stock:

       

Hire of 3,000 barrows, at 1s. a week \cp\14,000	Hire of 600 weights, scales, &c., at 1s. 6d. a week for 2, and 6d. a week for 10 months #1,020
Hire of 100 baskets, &c., at 6d. a week	6,500
Interest on 2,500l. stock-money, at 125l. per week \[Calculating at 1s. interest weekly for 20s.\]	6,500
Total paid for hire and interest	\cp\22,550

Concerning the income of the entire body of
costermongers in the metropolis, I estimate the
earnings of the 10,000 costermongers, taking
the average of the year, at 10s. weekly. My
own observation, the result of my inquiries, con-
firmed by the opinion of some of the most
intelligent of the costermongers, induce me to
adopt this amount. It must be remembered,
that if some costermongers do make 30s. a week
through the year, others will not earn a fourth
of it, and hence many of the complaints and
sufferings of the class. Then there is the draw-
back in the sum paid for "hire," "interest,"
&c., by numbers of these people; so that it
appears to me, that if we assume the income of
the entire body — including Irish and English —
to be 15s. a week per head in the summer, and
5s. a week each in the winter, as the two ex-
tremes, or a mean of 10s. a week all the year
through, we shall not be far out either way.
The aggregate earnings of the London coster-
mongers, at this rate, are 5,000l. per week, or
260,000l. yearly. Reckoning that 30,000 indi-
viduals have to be supported out of this sum, it
gives an average of 3s. 4d. a week per head.

But it is important to ascertain not only the
earnings or aggregate amount of profit made by
the London costermongers in the course of the
year, but likewise their receipts, or aggregate
amount of "takings," and thus to arrive at the
gross sum of money annually laid out by the
poorer classes of the metropolis in the matter
of fish, fruit, and vegetables alone. Assuming
that the average profits of the costermongers
are at the rate of 25 per cent. (and this, I am
satisfied, is a high estimate — for we should
remember, that though cent. per cent. may be
frequently obtained, still their "goods," being of
a "perishable" nature, are as frequently lost or
sold off at a "tremendous sacrifice"); assuming
then, I say, that the average profits of the entire
10,000 individuals are 25 per cent on the cost-
price of their stock, and that the aggregate
amount of their profits or earnings is upwards
of 260,000l., it follows that the gross sum of
money laid out with the London costers in
the course of the twelvemonth is between
1,250,000l. and 1,500,000l. sterling — a sum so
enormous as almost to make us believe that
the tales of individual want are matters of pure
fiction. Large, however, as the amount ap-
pears in the mass, still, if distributed among the
families of the working men and the poorer class
of Londoners, it will be found that it allows but
the merest pittance per head per week for the
consumption of those articles, which may be
fairly said to constitute the staple commodities
of the dinners and "desserts!" of the poor.