On Wednesday the cabmen of London went on strike, that
is to say, about 5,000 hansom-cab drivers ceased to hire their vehicles of the cab-owners. They say that they are charged from 15s. a day to 19s., according to the season, and that owing to the decrease of business they can no longer pay it. They ask a reduction of 3s. a day, but would probably be content with one of is. 6d., which would add 9s. a week to the amount remaining for their own livelihood. They complain also of over-long hours, but that is of course a consequence of having to pay so high a rent. The masters in reply say that they cannot accept the terms, preferring to go out of the trade, which, owing to the reduction of business, the increased prices of everything, and the constant failures of the drivers to pay their money, has ceased to be profitable. It seems almost impossible for the drivers to win, as their Union has little money, while the owners have a large strike-fund, from which they can draw, it is believed, 10s. a day for each cab left on their hands. The public appears to be doubt- ful as to its sympathies, and, as we have argued elsewhere, forgets too completely the cardinal fact that, as it fixes the rates, it is responsible for the effects of that fixing. As yet, the general inconvenience from the strike has been slight, except at the railway stations, the cabmen who own their cabs, those who have easy terms, and those who drive four-wheelers supplying nearly all the convenience needed. It would seem, indeed, that London is greatly over- supplied with cabs.
