HARASSING THE HACKNEY CARRIAGE OWNER.
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Urgent Need for Uniformity in Laws and Bye-laws.
THE HACKNEY CARRIAGE being owned and' run purely assa commercial proposition is my reason for submitting this , article to the readers of such an essentially cormnercial in,otor journal as the " C.M."
In its broader aspects the tentacles of -the law are gradually though surely entwining and fetteriais the motor industry. The position should-be semously reviewed and considered by all motorists, no matter what their status ; manufacturers, agents or users and, last but by no means least, the great body of workers engaged throughout the industry. mention those engaged as workers owing to the additional weight which their societies with other bodies could bring to bear upon the authorities, should oceasionarise for asserting the full strength of the whole industry. Now that the service of hackney cairiage vehicles is reduced to the minimum, an exceptional opportunity is offered to have the byelaws governing this calling drastically revised, modernized and placed upon a defined ,standard of uniformity.
The bye-laws at present in force are based upon the Towns Police Clauses Acts of 1847 and 1889; the , Public Health Act óf1875 supplemented by Corporation Consolidation Acts. Obviously, they vaere not originally inteiaded to apply to the motorcar. The metropolis will always demand legislation different from that of the provincial towns. The current London regulations have been more carefully con4dered. and administered. For this reason my remarks refer principally to the provincial centres. One can scarcely realize how widely. the laws concerning hackney carriages vary in-the different towns. Both in administration and execution the magistrates and Watch Committees are often quite ignorant of the bye-laws in the towns within their jurisdiction. Need one wonder at this deficiency of knowledge when one stops to consider the continual changesin, and the constitution of, a local Watch Committee?
Each of these bodies has the power to make a byelaw, and it is strange to think that these are supposed to be approved of by a central body like the Local Government Board, whom one might expect to have evolved some logical standard to serve as a guide to the local authorities.
Quaint Anomalies.
Bye-laws, so it is generally understood, are to project and provide for the pulslic, and need not be an arbitrar3rs imposition on the, haekney carriage pro • prietor, who, unfortunately, is often handled as if he were a street hawker. For the purpose of illustrating the chaotic state of affairs prevailing,' I need only giva a few instances concerning several of our principa towns. Although these examples are not very comprehensive; they, will serve to demonstrate my points. A proprietor is compelled to take a fare from a centrally situated .stand in a city to a given radius for single fare.
Now in accordance with this principle, Glasgow compels him to go to the city boundary which averages approximately seven miles from the Royal Exchange. In Bradford the boundary is anything from two to seven miles from the city' S centre. Leeds compels him to go beyond the boundary for a radius of ten miles from the centre -of the city (this distance includes a town like Bradford), though in each case he is not allowed to ply for hire outside the boundary of the town to which he belongs, and from which he commences his journey. In Brighton, which has a very restricted boundary, this anomaly is particularly glaring, because this town and Hove, geographically
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speaking, form one town with two authorities having, different standards of efficiency. Charges vary, particularly sn, relation to the number of passengbrs carried and extras for which allowance is made.
Many towns allow no extra charge to be made daring the hours between midnight and 6 a.m.others allow 50 per cent, extra; whilst few are a trifle more generous and allow double fai.e, which in wintry weather is well earned. Can anyone imagine a contractor agreeing to carry a load at any time of the day or night at the same price per ton as per cwt.? Yet this is what the hackney carriage proprietor is called, nay, compelled by law to do, upon demand by a fare.
Yet the .strangest bye-law of which I know is in force in Leeds. This is known-as the Rota, and it operates as follows :--A proprietor is compelled to have his car marked with an additional letter A, B, or 0, in addition to the Hackney Carriage plate. A car marked " A" must go to a stand marked " A " on Monday ; to B" stand on Tuesday ; and a " C " stand on Wednesday, the stands in the city being marked A, B and C. Should a proprietor wish to supply one stand daily near his garage or distriet with one car, he must own three cars to do so.
Docile Watch Committees.
The licensing tests applied annually (or halfyearly as the case may be) vary notoriously. It will be generally agreed that cars plying for hire on the promenade or principal stands of a watering place or spa, should not be -more favourably placed than those plying on the rank of the average town, or when engaged upon station work, which, by the way; causes far heavier all-round depreciation to the cars, owing to the greater weight carried, cumbersome baggage, and varied treatment by users. This latter work makes a smartly varnished vehicle an impossibility ; it has much unprofitable dead mileage. My suggestion is that our automobile clubs, associations, societies and others claiming to represent the motorist should call a conference to review the network of laws affecting the motorist. At present every branch of the motoring family is nursing a grievance or other, all being compelled to contribute extortionate sums to the Exchequer. The gravity of the situation becomes` accentuated when it is recalled that the police often have the hackney carriage regulations of a town entirely in their own hands. Watch Committees invariably truckle to them, leaning entirely upon one officer at times, and taking instead of giving instructions. My own experiences with Watch Committee members have been positively astounding. When carry ing through negotiations with these bodies in different parts of the country on behalf of Hackney carriage Proprietors Associations I have known men, entirely ignqra,nt of a particular bye-law or laws after .having the case explained to them, to agree to assist the cab owner. Then at the -last moment, owing to the opposition of a police official, these so-called guardians of the community have swung round, the result being the rejection of the associations' appeal. Local councillors appear to place themselves entirely in the hands of a single official, often a minor, inn at that, who has no practical, let alone technical, knowledge of a motorcar. The cab owner has been compelled to endure this state tif affairs. Now, through the aid of his. fellow commercial motorist who is receiving his share qf persecution we hope, to remedy this. A strong attack upon the strangling methods at present in vogue is imperative.
F. W. HOPPER.