The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-03 00:00:00

THE RAILWAY CAB QUESTION.

Yesterday the important public question—whether
railway companies can have at their stations selected
cabs for the accommodation of their passengers and the
convenience and security of the property of the latter,
without subjecting themselves to fines and penalties,
was brought on before Mr. Long, of the Marylebone
Police Court.

Several magistrates' decisions have recently been
given on the question, but we are not aware that the
matter has been so fully gone into as it was yesterday ;
and as the interests involved in the right of railway
companies to call in cabs and marshal them at their ter-
mini are not those of railway companies merely, but of
the public, we give the case somewhat in detail.
The case came before the magistrate on a summons
granted to Mr. James Barringer, of Sussex-fields, Ber-
mondsey, against John Charles Walmesley, the driver
of cab 2,125, for having, on the 16th of November last,
unlawfully plied for hire elsewhere than at some stand-
ing or place appointed for the purpose—to wit, in the
London and North-Western station-yard, Euston-square,
contrary to the statute.
Mr. Humphreys appeared for the company ; and Mr.
Bruyeres, the company's general superintendent of traffic,
and Mr. Dawson, one of whose duties is the superin-
tendence of the working of the cabs at the Euston-square
terminus, and to whose vigilance the present perfection
of the system is to be ascribed, were in attendance.
Mr. Long inquired whether the company admitted the
fact of the defendant plying for hire ?
Mr. Humphreys s:iid they admitted that the defen-
dant was at the station and employed by the company—
that he was there for the purpose of conveying from the
terminus any of the officers of the company or any of the
company's customers—viz., passengers ; but not that he,
the defendant, was there for the purpose of being hired
by the public, because the terminus was the private pro-
perty of the company, and the public could not come into
the place and engage the defendant.
James Barringer was then sworn, and deposed that on
the 16th ult. he had been travelling by the railway, and
that the defendant, who was within the terminus, held
up his finger, and said "Do you want a cab ?" He
answered " Yes," and took the defendant and his cab to
Drummond-street, and paid him ]s. as his fare. There
were twenty or thirty persons on the platform at the
time. When he paid the fare he asked the defendant
to drink. The defendant had something to drink at his
(plaintiff's) expense. He then told defendant that he
should summon him for illegally plying for hire on a
piece of ground not appointed as a cab-stand by the
commissioners of police. He told the defendant that he
did not think that it would make any difference to him
whether he was fined or not, as the only object he (plain-
tiff) had was to see if he could not get into the Euston-
square terminus with his cab as well as any other (i.e.
the privileged) cabs. He told the defendant he would
not be the sufferer by the summons, and that he (plaintiff)
was in a position to hold him harmless in the matter.
Mr. Humphreys.—Did you tell him that it was no
matter what he was fined, as the fine would be paid for
him ?

Witness.—l told him I was in a position to hold him
harmless. I did not say whether lor somebody else
would pay it.
Mr. Humphreys.—But that you could find somebody
that would ?
Witness.—l could do so.

Mr. Humphreys.—How many cabs have you ?
Witness.—Ten or twelve.

This was the plaintiff's case.
Mr. Humphreys then addressed the magistrate on be-
half of the London and North-Western Company. He
said this was not the first case that had come before Mr.
Long. He (Mr. Humphrey) had the honour about nine
years since to appear before him as the solicitor for a
defendant in a similar case.

Mr. Long.—The decision I then gave will not in-
fluence me on this occasion.

Mr. Humphreys was sure the decision would be most
impartially given, but he felt the worthy magistrate
would excuse him in directing attention to what took
place in 1843—the date to which he alluded. The case
then heard was similar to the one now under considera-
tion, and he (Mr. Humphreys) was fortified in the co-
gency of the arguments he used on that occasion by a
decision which had then been come to at Bow-street on
a like case. The summons heard by him (Mr. Long)
was founded on the allegation of unlawfully plying for
hire with a hackney carriage elsewhere than in a place
appointed—viz., the terminus of the London and Bir-
mingham Railway.
Mr. Long inquired the name of the magistrate before
whom the case was heard at Bow-street.

Mr. Humphreys did not recollect. The summons was
granted on the 12th September, and the case was gone
into on the 16th of that month. The magistrate took
time to consider, and on the 20th gave his decision that
the employment of cabs within a railway station was not
plying for hire within the meaning of the act. There
was another case heard, he believed, before Mr. Bing-
ham, the particulars of which had just been put into his
hands. That was heard on the 28th of September, 1843
—the very same day on which he (Mr. Long) heard the
case already adverted to. Mr. Bingham gave judgment
in favour of the defendant. The judgment was a long
one, and was given in writing. He would now address
himself more immediately to the case before the court.
The 4th section of the last act enabled the Police Com-
missioners to appoint a cab stand in any street, tho-
roughfare, or place of public resort within the metropo-
litan district, and from time to time to make regulations
concerning the boundaries of the same, and the number
of carriages to be allowed at any standing, and the times
during which they might stand and apply for hire at such
places, and also authorised them from time to time to
make regulations, &c.
Mr. Long.—That act ha' been passel since the de-
cisions referred to were given.
Mr. Humphreys.—Yes' as late as Motet 1850. But
the offence was created by the 6th and 7th :Vic., chap.
86, sec. 33. He would take the liberty of saying a few
words on the clause of the act referred to. The com-
missioners were, by it, to have the power of doing all
this in any street, or thoroughfare, or place of public
resort ; but if the nature and extent of those powers
conferred were considered, it would be impossible to
conceive that the Legislature intended they should be ex-
ercised elsewhere than in some street, thoroughfare, or
place of public resort. But the terminus of the London
and North-Western Railway was not a place of public
resort.
Mr. Long.—lt would be rather difficult to maintain
that.
Mr. Humphreys would qualify his observation. The
London and North-Western terminus at Euston-
square was a place' of accommodation to the public
—that was, to get into the trains which took them
into the country, and for their convenience when
they eame up from the country. The stations of
the railways were used for those purposes, and
those purposes only. Every person who went or came
there was a customer of the company—he was a custo-
mer of the company for the journey, and had no right
inside of the station, except as a traveller, unless by the
permission of the railway authorities. A railway ter-
minus could not, therefore, be a place of public resort,
which meant a spot to which all the public might go of
right. He, therefore, contended that a railway terminus
was a private place for the private accommodation of
that portion of the public who resorted to the railway
for special accommodation, and that it was not a place
of public resort within the broad meaning of the term.
A public-house, for instance, was aplace of public resort,
because all the public had a right to go there ; the doors
could not be shut against any one of the public, except
during particular hours, and even during those hours
travellers could gain admission to it. But the gates of
the cab side of the Euston-square terminus were closed,
except when the up trains arrived, and it was only then
that any person was allowed to go into it. To show the
real nature of the advantages derived by the public at large
from the admirable cab regulations of the London and
North-Western Company, he would state two or three sim-
ple facts. He had in his hand a list of the property that had
been restored by the cabmen employed at the terminus.
The number of articles restored in 1842 was 314 ; in 1843
it was 250 ; in 1844 the number was 203 ; in 1845 it was
262 ' • in 1846 it was 359 ; in 1847 it was 386 ; in 1848 it
was 356 ; in 1849 it was 381 ; in 1850 it was 423 ; and
in 1851 it was 423. There was an instance within the
last few days of a lady losing in a cab that she took from
the London and North-Western terminus, a purse con-
taining between 61. and 71., and while she was inquiring
at the office if the money had been found, the driver
came in with the purse in his hand, for the purpose of
delivering it over to the proper.officer. He maintained
that the community at large would suffer severely if the
cab regulations laid down by railway companies were
done away with, and cab-drivers of all characters, and
with cabs of every description, were allowed to ply for
hire at railway stations. Supposing the police commis-
sioners to have the power, under the 4th section of
the act, of exercising control at the London and North-
Western terminus at Euston-square—were they to
go there, and from time to time make regulations con-
cerning the boundaries to which the cab stand there was
to be limited ? The commissioners might, if they had
the power, define the boundaries in a way most incon-
venient a•A injurious to the public and the proprietors.
No such thing as this could have been contemplated by
the act. How, again, could the police commissioners
know, if they were to have the power of limiting the

number of carriages at a station, what amount of cab ac-
commodation would be sufficient for passengers arriving
by light or heavy trains at all hours of the day. The
commissioners, too, would have the regulations of the
hours during which the cabs should ply for hire, and
they might say, " You shall ply for hire from such an
hour to such an hour ;" and those very hours might be
when no trains came in. The commissioners were to
make such regulations for enforcing order as they deemed
necessary. But how could they go and do this on
the private property of the company, where the public
had no right to go except as customers of the com-
pany ? They had also the power of removing any per-
son who should be loitering on the stand. Surely the
railway company had the power of doing this themselves,
and could exclude any person who was not a passenger
departing from, or arriving at, the terminus. So that,
in fact, the police commissioners would be taking on
themselves the guardianship and the regulation of the
business of the terminus. Of course, this would inter-
fere seriously—supposing the commissioners to interfere
arbitrarily—with the business which the company had
to transact there. He now came to the thirty-third sec-
tion of the act, viz., that declaring that the driver should
not apply elsewhere than at a place appointed by the
police commissioners. He apprehended that the word
" elsewhere" had a limited meaning—that it meant such
places as the commissioners of police would have the
power of authorising stands upon, and that the term was
confined to that meaning—that was, any public street,
thoroughfare, or other place of public resort. It had been
suggested to him that, under such an interpretation as
would make the cabs at railways subject to the control
of the police, the Duke of Devonshire could not, without
causing an infringement of the law, call into his court-
yard a number of cabs for the convenience of any guests
who might not have their private carriages with them.
His grace might tell Mr. Jones or Mr. Thompson to
order fifty cabs to be in waiting at ten o'clock, and re-
main till they were wanted ; and would any one say
that this could not be done without the interference of
the police ? If the Duke of Devonshire could do this on
his own private property, then a railway company had
the power of making regulations for the employment of
any number of cabs they chose for the use of the direc-
tors, officers, or passengers arriving at the terminus, and
of allowing such cabs to remain on the private pro-
perty of the company till they were required. The
public could not come into the station and hire a cab—
this was not permitted. The advantage of the regula-
tions by which the cabs employed by the company were
governed would be obvious, when he stated, that not
only was great care taken in selecting good cabs and
horses, and men of respectable character, but that every
driver was obliged to make a return of the places to
which he took his passengers. He might illustrate the
advantages of this by the statement of a single fact. He
had some time since to defend an action for the London
and North-Western Company, and the principal point
for him to make out was the identification by a cab-
driver of a man he had driven from Euston-square to
Chelsea about twelve months before. The cab-driver
was questioned on the subject, and it was on his evidence
that the case turned. The present regulations of the
railway companies were, as he had stated, of much
benefit to the community ; but if the law was so strin-
gent as not to admit of a liberal construction, such as he
had given it, the companies must bow to the law, how-
ever greatly it might, as it undoubtedly would, operate
to the injury of the public at large.
Mr. Long thought this one of the most important
questions that had ever come before him for his decision.
He had considered the matter fully, in order to arrive at
a just conclusion. It was nothing to him that he had
on the former occasion—when the case was not fully gone
into—decided in a particular way. He was not in any
degree bound by any former decision. He now thought
it desirable to look into the history of the acts, and he
found by the Ist and 2d Wm. IV., c. 22, that the plying
for hire was in reference to any public street or road.
The Ist and 2d Vic., c. 79, enlarged the definition to any
place within the distance of ten miles from the Post-office,
and by the 6th and 7th Vic., c. 86, the language was ply-
ing for hire in any place within the metropolitan district.
Now, the 33d section, referred to by Mr, Humphreys, if
it were to be construed strictly, would embrace the case
before him. There could not be a doubt of that. The
word " elsewhere," if taken in its widest sense, would
bring the defendant within the penalty for having
unlawfully plyed for hire. They must, however, look at
the object which the Legislature must have had in view
when these restrictions, with reference to plying for hire,
were laid down. After referring, on the subject of hack-
ney-carriage stands, to the Hackney-carriage Act of Ist
and 2d Wm. IV., cap. 22 ; the Ist and 2d Vic., cap.
79 ; the 6th and 7th Vic., cap. 86 ; and the 13th Vic.,
cap. 7, he said he could not help asking himself what
the Legislature intended by having any hackney-carriage
stands at all ? Certainly, that the public might know
where to find accommodation. Again, a cab stand was
considered a great inconvenience by those who resided in
its immediate neighbourhood, and on the other hand, un-
less stands were appointed, the drivers would go where
they thought proper, and the public would be unable to
find them when they were wanted. As to plying for
hire at a railway station, so far from having any of
the inconvenience just alluded to attached to it, the
thing was a great public convenience. He used the
word convenience, but he might observe, that such a
practice at railway termini was absolutely necessary for
the proper working of the railway system ; and, if the
companies were to be prevented doing this for the accom-
modation and security of their passengers, they would
be obliged to apply to Parliament for power to do so.
If they were not to have under their own control the
supply of cabs for conveying their passengers from the
stations, there would be a scene of confusion hardly to
be described, and the inconvenience suffered by pas-
sengers arriving at a moment when cabs might be at the
station, would be intolerable. But, if such was the
law, he must decide accordingly. But was the law so ?
He must confess that he could not think, looking at the
purposes of the acts, and the clause stating the hackney
carriages should not ply for hire elsewhere than at
a stand appointed by the police commissioners, that
it was the intention of the Legislature to interfere with
private property. • He had read with considerable atten-
tion Mr. A'Beckett's decision, and had much respect for
that gentleman's judgment ; but he could not go with
him in this question. He (Mr. Long) thought that great
inconvenience would result if such a decision could be
maintained—inconvenience of such a character, that he
hardly knew what limit could be placed to its applica-
tion. There could be no doubt that a railway terminus
was private property. Railway travelling had now be-
come almost the only mode of transit, and the com-
panies had taken upon themselves the character of
public carriers. They opened the doors of their termini
previous to the starting of a train, and after the tra-
vellers had secured their luggage and taken their depar-
ture, the gates were shut, or the companies had
power to shut them. They could keep their
gates closed at all times, except for the arrival
and departure of passengers, who had no right to
remain on the station longer than was necessary to
see to the proper disposition of their luggage. Therefore
a railway terminus was, to all intents and purposes, pri-
vate property, and any person not using it for the pur-
poses of travel would, by going there without the
permission of the company, be as much trespassing as
if he entered his (Mr. Long's) house without his sanc-
tion. Being private property, it was not inconsistent
with the law (as the reporter understood) that the com-
panies should collect together cabs absolutely necessary
to carry on their business. If the Police Com-
missioners were to appoint a railway station as a
cab-stand, the public would have the right to walk
in and hire the vehicles, and it might be, that at the mo-
ment a train came full of passengers there would not be
one cab in attendance. If a railway company could not
select cabs, and have them under their own control, other
persons could not select them, and have them waiting
upon their private property. The Db done
at of Devonshire, if
he had a party, could not do so ;it could not e one
at Lord's Cricket-ground, or other places, unless each
driver was specially hired. He could not think that the
Legislature could have contemplated such a thing as this.
If the Legislature had intended anything of this kind they
would have expressed themselves more decidedly than
they had done. It had been said that cab proprietors paid
a large sum of money for their licences to work their
vehicles, and that they ought all to have an equal chance
of success. Yes ; if they all possessed good cabs and good
horses, then let them all be treated alike ; but could any-
thing be more notorious than that there was the widest
possible difference in the appearance and cleanliness of
cabs, and in the behaviour and character of the drivers.
The railway companies selected the best of cabs and the
most respectable drivers, and as far as his own experience
went, he seldom had anything to find fault with, either
as to the cabs or the men driving them. On the whole,
he had no doubt it was a very great good that railway
companies selected cabs of the best sort, and drivers civil
in behaviour, and honest in their conduct. He was of
opinion that the words in the act meant plying for hire
in public places only, and that the Legislature did not in-
tend in any degree that the act should apply to or inter-
fere with private property, which railway stations were.
The summons must be dismissed, as the plying for hire
in this case was not plying for hire within the meaning
of the act of Parliament.

STATISTICS OF THE FRENCH
The French army just now (in AlNBDs2)NcAovnirsis—ts
of 6 marshals, 78 lieutenants-general, 152 majors-gene-
ral ; 539 officers of the generals ff, 21,491 gendarmes,
while 13,698 are
7,793 of whom are foot soldiers,
mounted gendarmes ; 100 e regiments of infantry, viz. :
—75 regiments of the
31inbeattnadlie2e5e,ligeehethrebgairtaelnietsn, each
regiment regiment consisting of
companies, and each company has 125 men. Next come
the Vincennes Rifles in 10 battalions of 8 companies
each,
each company of 100 men—making a total of 8,000
Vincennes Rifles. There are also three regiments of
Zuaves, now in Africa, each regiment of 3 battalions,
and each battalion of 9 companies ; and 3 battalions of
Light African Infantry, and 12 fatigue companies. Be-
sides these, there is the Foreign Legion, in two regiments
each, of 2,600 men. The cavalry consists of 2 regiments
of Carabiniers, 10 regiments of Cuirassiers, 16 regiments
of Lancers, 12 of Dragoons, 9 of Hussars, 4 of African
Mounted Rifles, 3 regiments of Spahis, and 1 regiment
of Guides. The artillery consists of 15 regiments, each
of 16 batteries. There are three regiments of Engineers,
each consisting of 2 battalions. The total is—foot,
275,000 ; horse, 60,000 ; artillerymen, 36,000 ; corps of
Engineers, 10,000 men ; and 12,000 of the Foreign
Legion and bands of Africans in the French service.
The French fleet numbers 40 vessels of the line, 50 fri-
gates, 40 corvettes, 50 brigs, and 18 transports—all sail-
ing vessels. Add to this their brilliant and efficient
steam navy of 10 frigates and 20 corvettes of from 320 to
400-horse power, and 70 small steamers. There are
altogether 328 vessels, namely, 226 sailing vessels and
102 steamers—commanded by 2 admirals, 10 vice-ad-
mirals, 20 contre-admirals, 110 captains of vessels' of the
line, 230 captains of frigates, 650 first, and 550 second
lieutenants, and 300 cadets, and manned by 27,000
gunn.rs, auxin% and oailort.--KOhto Zoitting.

~r~- \

._4

-f*

LITEBATUB
The United Service commences 4- series of
anecdotes of the Duke of Wellin on, some of
which are original and interesting. The,everlasting
discussion of fire-arms and projectile continues
with unabated vigour. The first chap of the
" Campaigns of Gustavus Adolphus in Gerliany,"
by C. E. Watson, 7th Royal Fusiliers, gives promise
of an interesting and useful narrative. A " Memoir
of Abd-el-Kader " contains the history of his early
life, and a brief sketch of his romantic adventures ;
but the description which the writer gives of the
despicable character of the Moors of Algeria, is
somewhat at variance with the devoted attachment
which on every occasion they showed to their
chief.

The Sporting Review is embellished with two
plates, entitled " The Thorn," and " Mor:.ally
Wounded." The former represents a huntsman in
the act of extracting a thorn from the foot of a hound,
while the remainder of the pack are collected round
him watching the operation. In the latter, a
spaniel is in pursuit of a wounded bird. Besides
the general sporting information of the month, and
the usual light reading and sporting anecdotes, there
is a chapter on " Hunting in Brittany," in
which the race and antiquity of hounds, and how
they were first introduced into France, has been
carefully investigated. It appears, according to
Monumetensis, an ancient writer, that after the
destruction of Troy, 2Eneas, when he fled to Italy,
first introduced hounds into that country, that his
grandson Silvius was accidentally killed by his son
Brutus while in pursuit of a stag, and that Brutus
fled to Brittany, and established himself in that
country. Hence the introduction of hounds into
that province.

The Gent/emu's Magazine.—The first article is
entitled " A Hundred Years Ago," and contrasts
the remarkable events which occupied public atten-
tion at that epoch with those now claiming atten-
tion. There is an interesting account of Abd-el-
Kader, translated from the French, which is said
to be written in a fair and generous spirit, differing
from the usual style of that nation regarding the
exploits of enemies. Some remarks are made on
the letters of Richard Reynolds, which have been
published, with a memoir of his life, by his grand-
daughter. It is truly observed that the spirit
which actuated the writer of these letters is found
wanting in our days. It is observed—" These
letters are simple and sensible when matters of
business are concerned—affectionate, earnest, and
pious when higher themes employ his pen. He
had no brilliancy, and a moderate amount of culti-
vation ; but the true wisdom was with him, the wis-
dom which, if it does not always expect a rich
harvest from the most careful
itwing, yet as-
suredly looks for no such result n'the absence of
due religious cultivation. More and more do the
generations of men seem to need reminding that
whatever is good and great must be gained by
painstaking, and that the Christians of an earlier
day did not allow their children to take their
chance about instruction, and yet hope well for
their Christianity. Ours is a vague and relaxed
age. We, in this question, too frequently put our
logic in abeyance."

Colburn's New Monthly.—There is a long
article on " Ultramontaneism in France and
England," which is extremely opposed to that
sentiment. " Annie Lee " is a very melan-
choly tale ; indeed it is by the author of " Seven
Years in the Wedded Life of a Roman Catholic." It
describes a young and singularly lovely girl, who
is taken from her peaceful home, in the repose of a
country life, to endure all the toils, the miseries,
and the annoyances of an apprenticeship to a Lon-
don fashionable dressmaker. In an evil hour .she
met Captain Stanley, an unprincipled roue, who,
struck by her beauty, formed an acquaintance which
ended in ruin. She is left at last under the aus-
pices of an aunt, but her peace of mind was of
course lost for ever. Painful as the story is, as a
tale of fiction, it is ten times more painful to re-
flect that the reality takes place every day around.
us. In " Female Novelists " there is a long ac-
count given of the works of Mrs. Crowe, in
which hardly sufficient merit is accorded to her.
It must be admitted by all that that she is a
writer of great abilities, although they may be
exemplified in a manner that all may not regard
with unmixed admiration. " Young Tom Hall's
Heartaches and Horses" is continued in two
amusing chapters. " The late Earthquake" will be
interesting to many. There are some beautiful
lines by Mrs. Acton Tindal, entitled " The Eve
of All Souls." "According to popular superstition,
the souls of the departed are set free upon earth
on the eve of all souls ; " the second part of the
poem is here given :

THE RISING OF THE CHILDREN.
Light between the clouds was flowing,
When the little children woke ;
Dewy-eyed from slumber glowing,
Through each dusky aisle they broke.
Up they rose, each little dreamer,
From the graveyard, aisle, and tide,
Lo the busy throng was haunted
By the wild dove's rapturous note.
Lullabies their mothers chaunted,
Down the night winds seemed to float
Some in serge, and some in satin ;
All earth's Rachels wept for these,
E'en from vesper until matin ;
Bending o'er their burdened knees ;
Arrows of the giant taken
By the angels in their flight ;
Souls that scarcely stayed to waken
In the bounds of day and night.
lie who gives each mind its mission
As it issues from His breast,
Cancelled their unknown commission—
Gathered them in love to rest.

A PROJECT OF A PROPERTY TAX.