POLICE LEGISLATION IN THE MATTER OF CABS.
THE great Cab question is again before the public, much in the old form. On one side the charges of extortion and insolence are pre- dicated of the whole race of " drivers " and their vehicles are de- scribed as dirty, rickety, and so fort. On the other, the public are held to be unreasonable, and the police unjust. By the inter- vention of the latter, the proportions of the controversy are largely increased, and we may safely say that it has attained to something like political importance. Moreover, we have not seen the ques- tion fully or fairly stated; our gigantic contemporary, the prime antagonist of cabmen, contenting himself with a railing descrip- tion of the species cabman, followed by a somewhat illogical de- mand for sixpence a mile ; thus mixing up the perfectly separate questions as between the cabmen and the public and the cabmen and the police. The two questions are, nevert41ees, distinct. The public have a right to sound cabs' civil, demera, and reasonable prices ; and, we suppose, to get the last by act of Parliament, if they can. But they have no right to allege ill behaviour as a reason for a reduc- tion of charges; and to fly to the Commissioners of Police for an ukase whenever public grievances, as against cabmen, seem to be most pressing. If we impose a lower tariff by act of Parliament, we must be especially careful not to fix it too low, for that would increase the very evils now so bitterly denounced. Make it unre- munerative and not only will you drive a lower class of men to the cab-stand for employment, but you will haVe'indireictllre- vided for the continuance of extortion, robbery, and cheating,"siti‘e the men employed will be sure to make up dishonestly for the itisis you impose. Were the tariff lowered, as in the case of 4lie;orntii- buses, by competition, it would be kept within remunerativitlimitd, and the public would not only get more civil drivers but-better ao- oommodation. We have no more right to dietrite:suirpeitosiond any conditions to cab-drivers and cab-owners thantto Mantheister manufacturers and City merchants, because -the4eiaiiw fweepit manageable body and the latter are not; because,thil &Itinerate ignorant, poor, and some of them vicious, and the latter, ffoisoeth, b -we none of these characteristics.
But we do not see that because the cab-drivers- and proprietors have hitherto had the best of the bargain, even under the re- frictions imposed by Parliament and the regulations of the police; that they are in future to be treated with injustice. No doubt, the Commissionersof Police have great powers intrusted to them; bittave question whether they legally extend so far as they have been lately stretched by Sir Richard Mayne and the bureaucracy of Scotland Yard. According to the late ukase, as it has been aptly termed, " drivers " must sit on their cabs in the rank when unemployed, (a harsh order) ; must not collect on the pavement, (surely the po- lice have always been able to disperse them) • must not be tr- tended by helpers or " bucks "; and must not-drink or smoke. How much further will this interference go ? The prohibition to move from the box of the cab is sufficiently vexatious, and may be hurtful to health, but the veto on smoking is efiiir ing mere police-regulation close on to the limits of tyranny. 4ri Austria the authorities prescribe the shape of your hatand thiRtali of your beard; and in Lombardy you are suspected-if yowabstain from smoking. If military discipline is to be imposed ref dab.: men, let it be publicly known ; but while any elegant can smoke with impunity in Pall Mall or the Opera Colonnade, it is not quite fair to forbid the indulgence to the inelegants who perch on the cab- boxes in the Haymarket This may seem a small and indillbrent matter ; but it indicates an extension of government by police- regulations, and a step towards _irresponsible legislation, which may, some day, be applied to the "upper and middle classes," for whose comfort, according to the latest reading, cabs and cabmen
were created. ,
It is also worth consideration whether the licensing system as administered in Scotland Yard is not more Venetian than EAglish. Licences and badges are fair to both parties, as a provision for the responsibility of the driver bathe event of misconduct or any graver offence. They give not only the public but the police entire control over the whole fraternity who conduct our street transit.; and the latter, at least, make an active use of it. The workiia instructive. "X 99" sees or fancies he sees "66,948" "loiteir. ing " in Cheapside with his cab or omnibus : what does he do ? Order the lazy driver to proceed, and menace him with. 0., slire4 mons P—Nothing of the kind. "X 99," standing afar off, .
out his pocket-book, and takes the number of the alleged :, , linquent driver ; who some days after receives a swum s,
1 and in nine cases out of ten really cannot say whether., (1. was loitering or not at the time specified by "X 99," 3i, o is "on oath." Any policeman has it in his power to runi7a; driver by simply summoning him sufficiently. The policeman Oho nearly always believed. Sir Richard Mayne withholds the Hoeing)}
from the loiterer, (there is no heavier punishment for the black; guard,) and thus takes away his livelihood. We have described an actual case. There is also good reason to believe that private malice occasionally imposes on Sir Richard Mayne. On the other hand, if the Commissioners were asked, could they truly answer that they know of no "felons" now acting as licensed drivers, in contravention of the act of Parliament? We have no intention of imputing favouritism, but we have shown injustice. Again, it is felt by the best of drivers that they are punished twice for the same offence, when fines inflicted for loitering, simply on the evidence of policemen, without any chance of defence,
man whose licence is withheld has no remedy whatever ; he le
simply told that he is not a proper person to be licensed. The late ukase against smoking may be used in the same indiscriminate way. For the credit of British justice, we believe that no magistrate would convict a cabman for smoking. But suppose resistance on the part of the cabmen: policemen at all points note the numbers of the reeusanta who do not come up to Sir Richard's criteria of propriety ; licensing-day is near at hand, and then the Commis- sioner has a grand battue.
Now, we have no wish to palliate the bad conduct of a class who at least furnish amusing topics to contemporaries. By all means let the evils be remedied ; but let the remedy come within the limits of law. It will be an evil day for England wheii, irre- sponsible legislation and police law, even for cabmen, are.reeog,
masa and applauded by a certain public because in agiven example, , it happens to be convenient to them. If the ordinary law. ae,inoici sufficient, let it be reformed ; but do not leave the tuitking of potua, laws to the police, and the execution of those laws to the con- - rectional tribunal of the same authority.
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