The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-31 00:00:00

THE NEW CAB REGULATIONS.

(From the Observer.)
Some of our contemporaries are euilty of foster-
ing an immense amount of misconception with
regard to the incidence with which compliance with
the new cab regulations falls upon cab proprietors
and drivers. Scotland Yard has been described as
filled day after day with a block of cabs, waiting to
be passed, undergoing inspection, and, with long
and painful delay, being fitted with the new
plates qualifying them to ply under the new act, All
this is totally inaccurate. Not a single cab has under-
gone inspection in Scotland Yard. The Officials
who are entrusted with the inspection of cabs attend
the headquarters of the various divisions on certain
specified days, and their attendance for this is duly
notified some days beforehand to the several cab
proprietors within the division. There has not--
and never has been—a single new cab plate in
in Scotland-yard. All these are issued at divisional
stations as the result of the inspection, and Scot-
land-yard has not had the remotest connection with
the cabs in any shape. Its functions have had
concern solely with the cab drivers, who it is true
bring their machines along with them, and so create
that block in the yard which has possibly misled
our contemporaries. The licences for cab-drivers
have hitherto been issued in the month of May, to
last for twelve mouths, and have cost SS. each. The
new act has, how,ver, anticipated the completion
of the cabman's financial year. renewal of
all licences has been called fur on or before to-
morrow, and a certain discount for the lost months
has been given in this form, that the renewal
licences Lave been granted on payment of 35., and
will hold good till February 1, 1870. After to-
mirrow the licence will cost 55., and will hold
good till the date a year hence corresponding to its
issue.

As there are over 17,000 cab-drivers in the metro-
polis, it is obvious thatconsiderable confusion would
have arisen had all these been allowed to attend in
one day. The Chief Commissioner accordingly
issued a circular allocating certain days to particular
numbers. The renewal of the licence commenced
on Monday, the 10th, and has continued de die
in diem ever since. The last batch, consisting of
the numbers over 17,000 will be taken to-morrow,
which will be the closing day under the 3s. dispen-
sation. But if a driver happened to miss his rota-
tion he was not through this failure placed
at any disadvantage, all he had to do was to attend
at the yard any day he chose, and he received his
renewal just as if it had been the day on which,
according to the schedule, he ought to have attended.
Possibly the greatest influx of drivers occurred yes-
terday. Scotland-yard was all day so crowded with
the vehicles of applicants that there was difficulty
in making a passage through them ; but, neverthe-
less, the drivers had no reason to complain of undue
detention. Half an hour was the maximum of the
official detention, although it must be acknowledged
tha' conviviality often led to a longer stay in the
precincts.
We have reason to believe that on the lamp
question, which recently gave rise so nearly to a cab
strike, no such unanimity of feeling exists as need
lead to" any apprehension that such a high-handed
step will be again attempted, even if the action of
the law—postponed by Mr. Bruce—is ultimately
put in force. The support of the Hansom cabmen
is not on this occasion with their fellows of the
four-wheelers. The former, indeed, are inclined to
be irritated at the continued resistance of the latter
to an impost which they, the Hansom drivers,
have long voluntarily taken upon themselves.
In most cases the Hansom cab-driver has to
provide his own lamp or lamps at a cost of about
255., and in all he has to keep his own lamp burn-
ing, at a cost of 2id. per night if he burns cocoa-
nut oil, and 41d. if he uses composites. He has
taken to the lamp partly out of a certain craving
for " fancy," as he calls it, partly because he finds it
pay, and be is inclined to dispute the title of the
four-wheeler to dispense with what prescription
compels him to use. Some amount of inquiry has
impressed us with the conviction that the driver of
a four-wheeler cannot and will not afford the addi-
tional impost of the lamp, but that the proprietors
are not so fiercely hostile to it in itself as to the time
of its intended imposition. They contend that the
new act will involve them in a great amount of
expense; that they will be bound, if they are to
compete with their fellows on free trade princip!es,
to expend within the next few months what will
far exceed the amount of taxation from which
they have been relieved. They believe that the
same competition which free trade induces will
ultimately stimulate to the invariable use of the
lamp, but what they are trying for is, to be spared
is the meantime its enforcement. This indulgence
Mr. Bruce has granted them, and quite probably,
should Parliament refuse to grant the petition for
the non-enforcement of the lamp, the trade will be
content with having escaped the burden for this
costly winter.