THE AUCTIONEER.
1. The Auctioneer is one who disposes of property at public sale to the highest bidder. The sale of property in this manner is regulated, in some particulars, by legislative enactments, which have for their object the prevention of fraud, or the imposition of duties.
2. In Pennsylvania, the present law provides for three classes of auctioneers, each of which is required to pay to the state a specified sum for a license. The first class pays two thousand dollars per annum; the second, one thousand; and the third, two hundred; and, besides this, one and a half per cent. on the amount of all their sales is required to be paid into the treasury of the state. To each class are granted privileges corresponding to the cost of the license.
3. In the state of New-York, the number of auctioneers for the cities, villages, and counties, is limited by law; and all persons who would follow the business are compelled to give security for the faithful execution of its duties. The state requires a duty of one per cent. on all merchandise imported from beyond the Cape of Good Hope, one and a half per cent. on such as may be imported from other foreign countries, and two per cent. on wines and ardent spirits, whether foreign or domestic. The laws and usages regarding sales at auction, in most of the United States, are similar, in their general principles, to those of Pennsylvania or New-York.
4. A great amount of merchandise, both foreign and domestic, in our principal cities, is sold by auction; and the price which staple commodities there command is generally considered a tolerable criterion of their value at the time. It very frequently happens, however, that articles which are not in steady demand, are sold at a great sacrifice. Auctioneers seldom import goods, nor is it usual for them to own the property which they sell.
5. In all cases, before an auction is held, due notice is given to the public. This is usually done by the circulation of a printed hand-bill, by a crier, or by an advertisement in a newspaper; or all three of these modes may be employed to give publicity to one and the same sale.
6. Persons desirous of becoming purchasers at the proposed auction, assemble at the time appointed; and, after the auctioneer has stated the terms of sale, as regards the payment of whatever may be purchased, he offers the property to the persons present, who make their respective bids, he, in the mean time, crying the sum proposed. When no further advance is expected, he knocks down the article to the last bidder.
7. A mode of sale was formerly, and, in some cases is still, practised, in various parts of Europe, called sale by inch of candle. The things for sale are offered in the ordinary manner, as has been described in the preceding paragraph, and, at the same time, a wax-candle, an inch in length, is lighted. The purchasers bid upon each other, until the candle has been all consumed; and the last bidder, when the light goes out, is entitled to the articles or goods in question.