New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-04-14
CAB CONFERENCE TO-DAY
SUGGESTIONS TO BE MADE BY HACK
MEMS PROTECTIVE LEAGUE.
IT'S MEMBERS DECLARE PRESENT ABUSE
is LARGELY DUE TO LACK or
PROPER JURISDICTION.

j
The Hackmen's Protective League has sent to
Mayor Low. the presidents Of the five boroushs
of greater New York, Charles V. Fornes, presl-
dent of the Board of Aldermen; the Merchants
Association and the City Improvement Society
a number of suggestions which, if acted on, the
union believes viii aid in the construction OF an
ordinance which will do away with some OF me
evils Of the present cab system one OF lhe
suggestions reads as follows: Amy puhllc mack
man or driver who is rendered his legal fare and
refuses to accommodate the public for such 1afe
shall be deemed guilty of a msdemeanor, ana
liable to fine of not less than - or more IMAM
$40. or Imprisonment. or both.
rohn Flynn chairman of the Hacknen' sIeague
who will to-day discuss the cab situation WIN
the committee on cabs OF the Merchants AS
sociation yesterday talked at length on the I'M
provements which he believed the organization
which he represented could bring about II IL had
the corporation of the police and the encour-
agement of the public Mr.. Flynn lives at NO
1160 First-ave. He has driven cap IoI
eighteen years. Yesterday he said:
"I had much to do with forming the union
It's HEADQUARTERS are at No Ala Sixth-ave. It's
number is Local 3D. of the Team Drivers In
+ernarional Union and il is affiliated with the
American Federation of Labor 1t is composed
only of owners and drivers of public licensed
hacks One of the main objects of its existence
is to promote and elevate the business ana 10
give the riding public a better cab and carriage
service. / am telling you these Things anu
quoting them from our bylaws in order TO I'M
press the readers of The Tribune that we are
honest, square men. l admit that there are
bad men in the business; they are hurting US
more than can tell. This fight means that IN
the end we will drive every rascal out Of the
trade It's quite a job ahead of us, but we
shant quit until we've placed nothing but
straight honest men on the box to cater TO the
public Speaking as chairman of the union and
as its delegate to the American Federation or
Labor. I think voice the opinion of my brothers
when say that there are better times coming"
LICENSE EVERY CABMAN.
II recommend that when the laws relating to
,abs are changed. brought up to date and made
right all cabmen in the city pay $40 for their
license and So for the renewal Of the same
The private license cabs are now supposed to
pay S25 for the privilege of soliciting customers
at special stands before hotels and restaurants
If this favoritsm Of location is done away with
the main abuse will be remedied There are
more of these special license cabs than public
cabs / know what l am talking about when
I say that the drivers of very many of the spe-
cial license cabs have never been licensed They
have no right TO be in the street at all Many
of these cabs owned by the smaller stables
which send them out, give the drivers only ID
cents an hour and make them turn in so much
when they get back TO the stable. Naturally
the driver browbeats passengers and gets all
he possibly can. These drivers can charge any
thing they please; there is no law which
touches them. Moreover, their rigs are not
numbered and the passenger has way of get
rT-s,o hae he
big hotels in Fifth-ave. pays its men better
wages-S2 a day-and lets them pick up what
tins they can. Many Of the cabs at the restau-
rants and dives where special permits are given
are owned by the starter. Why should these
dives be so favored?
MANY OWNERS AT FAULT.
NO law affects this starter and owner. He
can charge what he likes. He takes nothing less
than a dollar for a fare; he makes his driver
turn over that amount for every passenger.
You see then. the driver gets his pay by
worrning all he out of the passenger. If
the latter objects, and is driven back to the
starter he is told. 'Nothin' DOM and that's all
there is to it And speaking Of dives reminds
me. The owners who have special permits to
carry passengers from these places stand in
with the place. If any one gets 'doped' nothing
is said When the passenger complains his com
plant ref1ectS on all OF US VINO are honestly
trying to support our families
Now. these special permits should be done
away with: every cabman should be made
public driver in the that all should be
under the same regulations and all should be
equally responsible for attractions of the law.
Many of these special permit drivers usurp
rights in the street; they nearly always over
charge: they obstruct traffic about the places
where people resort at night; large proportion
of them not even licensed, and it's case
Of -rakeoff with them in every possible way.
All cabdrivers should be made to charge the
citys legal tariff and more. There should DE
no favored ones,
NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE JURISDICTION
The greatest reform which could be made
would be to tell who has jurisdiction over
u.s. TO whom must look when we are in diff
Guilty. As matters stand i don't know whether
he Mayors marshal the police the Mayor
himself has jurisdiction. l asked the marshal
that question the other day, and he told me-
rather indefinitely, that the present ordinances
were so vague that no one really knew who
ought to enforce the ordinances on c2os. My
experience has been that there are too many
heads over Nobody has any power They
AN all say, Go 10 that gentleman The police
should look after cur business. Every dispute
should be settled once and for all by the police
by the sergeant in the station nearest where
the difficulty comes up The sergeants decision
should be final. The police should have charge
OF cab licenses. Leave all other licenses to the
Mayors Office. Nowadays a criminal walk
nto the City Hall and get a license. Often the
signatures attached to the petition the candi-
date presents are fictitious. If this matter We're
in the hands of the police il would not be a
difficult task to look UP the candidates refer
noes. The candidates should be moral men,
4 least honest men who viii not take DRINKS
n their cabs VINO Will not profanity or
abuse IN their bargains with passengers. who
viii not get drunk themselves. and who Will not
ruin the business of other decent men by virtu-
ally robbing their passengers.