A WORD OF AND TO CABMEN.
CABMEN cannot be said to resemble Desdemona in being " fair "- it grieves us to confess that they and their charges are, on the con- trary, both often exceedingly unfair; but they are every way Des- demona's match as being "suspect in fame." Yet ought we not to judge the cabman too harshly.
His morality in the matter of fares is unfortunately loose. It differs, however, from the morality of retail-dealers in general, on this score, only in the fact of his being tied down to a regulated price. If any legislature—imperial or provincial—were to prescribe a tariff of prices for teas, sugars, and tallow candles, would not the dealers in these articles be apt incessantly to slide a little up the scale ? They take what they can get at present, because no law ties them down to ask a certain sum; and no one blames them. The cabman does the same : but sundry grave senators, without his leave, have fixed how much he may with propriety ask ; and everybody cries out against him. His overcharge is a factitious crime—a crime made by the law which forbids its commission. It consists not in charging more than enough, but in charging more than the law calls enough. Let any person examine his own feelings, and he will find that it is not the bare overcharge that raises his indignation. It is the idea of having paid more than the table of fares says he should pay, which is an imputation on his knowledge or his cleverness. In nine cases out of ten it is the rude and boisterous manner in whim the claim is urged. The crack whip (or rather stick, for he more frequently carries a stick in his hand as a baton of office than a whip) of Piccadilly—" Don Pedro" by name and title—will talk and laugh you out of an extra shilling, and leave you better pleased with him than if he had not cheated you. He makes you tell down your money as he makes his horse go above his speed, by the undefinable charm of his manner. So in like manner the ubiqui- tous charioteer known by the appellation of " King John" fleeces you without exciting a murmur. Overcharges have been brought into bad repute by vulgar imitators of these and kindred master- spirits ; emulating them with about as much felicity as the ass in the fable emulated the spaniel's fawning on his master. The truth is, that the cabman is one who lives in the day and for the day. He is free from anxiety as the birds, who, like him, are constantly in the open air, and unburdened with forethought. If he is naturally of a prepossessing appearance and manner, his insouciance is irresistible ; but if be is a rude and vigorous clown, it is too much. Men fancy it is the expense he puts them to that throws them out of humour : this is a mistake—it depends entirely upon the way in which he does it. Yet a tariff of fares has its uses; it plays the part of articles of the peace between cabmen and the rest of the public. The argu- ments about alleged overcharges would be interminable were there not the book to refer to. And the infringement of the tariff by occa- sional judgments from the Bench is also advantageous. Cabmen are a set of grown children, and must, when their high spirits run to seed in boisterousness, be driven back within bounds by similar means. Arguing with them is out of the question ; they either cannot or will not understand argument : they must be chastised. The customers of the cabman are well acquainted with the effect which the simultaneous " pulling-up" of half-a-dozen of them pro- duces on the whole fraternity. They are the exact counterparts of schoolboys who have witnessed the flogging of one of their com- rades : at first all is whisper, and bow, and obedience ; then a laugh, or a graceful petulance, is ventured upon ; and so their spirits go on regaining their confidence and buoyancy, until another punish- ment becomes necessary. It strikes us that there are symptoms abroad at present indica- ting that the worshipful the Magistrates will soon require to take cognizance of a few cabmen, as an example to the rest. There has been a long interval without any impressive cases of fine, and the spirits of the fraternity are beginning to run riot. We say this out of our entire love for cabmen, and desire for their happiness and comfort irrespective of the public good.
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