Dictionary Definition
forestalling n : the act of preventing something
by anticipating and disposing of it effectively [syn: obviation, preclusion]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Verb
forestalling- present participle of forestall
Extensive Definition
Engrossing,forestalling and regrating were marketing
offences in English common
law. The terms were used to describe unacceptable methods of
influencing the market, sometimes by creating a local monopoly for a certain good,
usually food. The terms were often used together, and with
overlapping meanings. They are obsolete.
Blackstone’s Commentariesi described them as
offences against public trade:
forestalling - ''the buying or contracting for
any merchandise or victual coming in the way of the market; or
dissuading persons from bringing their goods or provisions there;
or persuading them to enhance the price, when there; any of which
practices make the market dearer to the fair trader.
regrating - the buying of corn or other dead
victual, in any market, and selling it again at the same market, or
within four miles of the place. For this also enhances the prices
of the provisions, as every successive seller must have a
successive profit.
engrossing - the getting into one’s possession,
or buying up, large quantities of corn, or other dead victuals,
with intent to sell them again. This must of course be injurious to
the public, by putting it in the power of one or two rich men to
raise the price of provisions at their own discretion.
Blackstone described a monopoly as “the same offence
in other branches of trade”'', i.e., not food.
Forestalling
Blackstone says that this was a common law
offence. The derivation does not come from setting up a stall in
front of another but buying before the goods got to a stall in open
market. Typically, forestalling referred to the practice of
intercepting sellers on their way to a market,
buying up their stock, then taking it to the market and marking it
up, which appears to be a type of arbitrage. It could also mean
the creation of partnerships or agreements under which goods would
not be brought to market. Forestalling is often used and understood
as a catch all clause for marketing offences.
The Domesday
Book recorded that "foresteel" (i.e.
forestalling, the practice of buying up goods before they reach
market and then inflating the prices) was one of three forfeitures that
King Edward the Confessor could carry out through England. As
early as 1321
the practice of forestalling was recognised as an specific offence
and was regulated in London in the early
twelfth century, and in other cities and towns, including goods
coming by land or seaii. However, originally the word itself was
not used. In the laws of Henry I
forestalling was the crime of assault on the highway an offence against the
King's
Peace. It acquired the meaning of the marketing offence through
the distribution of the regulations of the Marshalsea whose
officers were empowered by Edward I to
regulate trade in the shires. In time these regulations became
known as the Statute of Forestallers, though probably never passed
by any formal process. The laws provided for heavy penalties
against foretsalling. In practice the normal penalty was a fine, or, for repeated cases,
exposure in the pillory.
The Act against Regrators, Forestallers and Ingrossers
In 1552 Edward VI’s
Parliament passed an Act to regulate trade, saying in the preamble,
as so often, that previous laws had proved inadequate (5&6
Edward VI c.12)iii.
The Act excluded from the penalties it imposed
the purchase and sale “in open Fair or Market” of “corn, Fish,
Butter or Cheese, by any such badger,
Lader, Kidder, or Carrier” as was granted a licence by three
Justices
of the Peace from the County in which he dwelt.
The Act touching Badgers of Corn and Drovers of Cattle, to be licensed
Like its precursors this Act was perceived to be
inadequate, in 1562 the Parliament of Elizabeth I passed a further
Act, tightening the regulation of Badgers and Drovers (5
Elizabeth I, c 12)iv. The Act recited that “such a great Number of
Persons seeking only to live easily, and to leave their honest
Labour, have and do daily seek to be allowed and licensed . . .
being most unfit and unmet for those Purposes . . . diminishing the
Number of good and necessary Husbandmen”.
Under this Act a licence could only be granted
under strict conditions. Badgers had to be male, resident in the
shire for 3 years, householders, (have been) married, and 30 years
of age, or more. Household servants or Retainers could not apply.
In addition to buy corn or grain out of market or fair to sell
again, the licence had to contain “express words” allowing this.
Licences could only be granted at Quarter Sessions, and by three
Justices, of whom one had to be of the Quorum. Each one had
to sign and seal the Licence. The Licence could be granted for no
more than a year, and all licences expired on 1st May unless
expressed to last longer. The Justices were entitled, but not
required, to require a “bond or surety” by recognisance from or for
the Badger. This could be up to £5, the maximum penalty for a first
offence against the Act. The Clerk of the Peace, or Deputy Clerk,
but no lesser officer, had to write out the Licence, which cost 12
pence, and to enter the terms of licences in a register, which had
to be produced at the Quarter Sessions.
The Act was written in very detailed terms. The
stringent technical requirements suggest that the legislature were
concerned not only that markets were being threatened by
competition from unregulated traders but also that Licences were
too freely available, either legitimately because the Justices did
not know how many were being granted, but also that they were being
obtained illegally, perhaps from corrupt court officials, or
counterfeiters. Counterfeit licences for vagabonds and others were
a constant problem. In practice licences were granted outside these
conditions, including to women.
Although Badgers, in common with most travellers
in medieval and Elizabethan times, were required to have a Licence,
and presumably carried it with them and produced it if challenged,
there was no requirement in the legislation for them to wear a
badge. There is anecdoctal reference to it, and it is possible that
in practice there was a custom or habit for them to do so, or be
required to do so at some markets, (e.g., Smithfield
Market).
Repeal
The Acts regulating badgers were repealed in 1772
by 12 Geo III, c 71, An Act for repealing several laws therien
mentioned against Badgers, Engrossers, Forestallers, and Regrators
and for indemnifying Person against Prosecutions for Offences
committed against the said Acts. However, it was found not to have
effectually repealed them because of repeated prohibitions in
previous Acts. Another repealing act was required in 1844 when 7
& 8 Vic. c.24 An Act for abolishing the Offences of
Forestalling, regrating and engrossing, and for repealing certain
Statutes passed in restraint of Trade, finally tidied up law by
repealing 19 other Acts passed between the reigns of Henry III and
Edward VI.
External links
Sources
W. Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of
England, vol IV, 15th Ed. London 1809, p.157-8.
Britnell, R.H., Forstall, forestallling and the
Statute of Forestallers, English Historical Review, 102, 1987,
p.89-102
forestalling in Italian:
Accaparramento
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
agape,
agog, all agog, anticipant, anticipating, anticipative, anticipatory, arrestation, avoidance, avoiding reaction,
awaiting, certain, circumvention, confident, debarment, defense mechanism,
determent, deterrence, deterrent, deterring, discouragement, discouraging, dodge, duck, eager, elusion, elusiveness, equivocation, escape, estoppel, evasion, evasive action,
evasiveness,
expectant, expecting, forbearance, forbiddance, forbidding, forearmed, foreclosure, forestallment, forewarned, gaping, getting around, halt, hopeful, in anticipation, in
expectation, jink, looking
for, looking forward to, neutrality, nonintervention,
noninvolvement,
not surprised, obviation, optimistic, preclusion, preclusive, prepared, preventative, prevention, preventive, prohibition, prohibitive, prophylactic, ready, refraining, sanguine, shunning, shunting off,
shy, sidestep, sidetracking, slip, stay, stop, stoppage, stopping, sure, the runaround, unsurprised, waiting, waiting for, watching
for, zigzag