The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-07 00:00:00

Cab Fares in the Metropolis.

Last evening a meeting of the Society of Arts
took place at the rooms, John-street, Adelphi—Sir
Richard Mayne, chief commissioner of the metro-

- -
politan police, in the chair. The subject brought
under discussion was introduced by Mr. Henry
Cole, C. 8., " On the existing legislation in reference
to the cab fares in the metropolis, and their effect
in rendering the vehicles inferior to those provided
in other European capitals and the large municipal
towns of this country." _ _

Mr. COLE commenced by observing that his ob-
ject on the present occasion was not to interfere
with the law in regard to cabs and their manage-

ment, but to bring forward the question as to the
fares. He considered that the law which stated that
a cab must go a certain distance for 6d. was a very
great mistake, and against the experience and prac-
tice of almost every other town in Europe. He ad-
mitted that it was necessary there should be some
system of supervision, but he had arrived at this
conviction, that on the whole we have in London
the meanest cabs in the world. He did not intend
to say they were the worst, or that they were very
bad indeed, bat that they were an extremely low
average. If they could by any magic wand summon
up au exhibition of cabs from the principal cities of
Europe and marshal them in Trafalgar-square, he
believed they would be found (with the exception of
the hansom cabs) to be very low indeed in the scale
of quality. He rested the case he was endeavouring
to establish upon evidence such as the following :
In the 10th report of the Commissioners of Inland
Revenue, published only three days ago, it was stated
that it must be admitted that our four-wheeled cabs
are a disgrace to the metropolis of a great empire—
that the custom of needy men setting up cabs for
themselves was increasing, while the number of pro-
prietors was diminishing. This must be regarded as
a very significant fact, showing that there was
something rotten in the present state of affairs. The
next witness to whose evidence he would allude was
their excellent chairman, Sir It. Mayne. That gen-
tleman had stated as his opinion in good Saxon lan-
guage that our cabs were bad, that the fares were
too low, and that he did not think there ought to be
any sixpenny fare at all. Now, he (Mr. Cole) was
not prepared to go so far as that, for he thought
that there was no objection to a sixpenny fare (pro-
vided the public determined upon that amount) but
he could not conceive why that sum more than any
other should be fixed as the maximum charge for a
mile. The control and supervislhiodnthteoeewnheieclhecenabees
were subjected were inefficient,
was that the cabs were drawnm
was stated by the greatest oblerhno.rnsoesvewlishti,cwil'easre
otenlzhkieehptthoeny
wtehreeiratletageshebx
(Laughter.) His
Hviesh(imelers.
tfooutr;ewmh.eel
Tchabes
hwanasee,
monetahbee
whole,
)
were 'certainly quicker, but they were extremely
ue xn
pf
ae vr ioeunrcaeb loef
tight-fitting—(laugliter)—and there was always
great difficulty= in getting into them. The springs
were weak, and passengers were in danger of having
their noses allayed off when the windows were let
down in wet weather. (Laughter.) The cabs were
a great deal better in Birmingham, Liverpool, Edin-
burgh, Paris, Vienna, Lyons, Munich, Brussels, &c.
Mr. Cole then proceeded to advance a variety of de-
tails to show that the system adopted in the places
he had mentioned was far preferable to that pur-
, sued in London, and might be carried out with con-
siderable advantage in this metropolis. Amongst
other authorities who had expressed an opinion on
the subject, Mr. John Bright had stated that the
defective cab system had arisen from the want of a
proper municipal government in London ; and his
(Mr. Cole's) own conviction was that it was highly
desirable that the Legislature should cease to meddle
in such petty matters as this, and resolve to leave
the trade as free as possible. He agreed in the ad-
visability of a cabdriver being compelled to take out
a license, and being subjected to a certain kind of
supervision ; but he himself was the best judge as
to what he might sell his article for. He thought
the council of this society might reasonably urge
upon theCroyernment the desirability of looking into