Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-28
BOMB ACES OBJECT
DECLARE THAT THEY DO NOT
WANT PUBLIC VEHICLES.
Commissioners Listen to Spirited Dis
cussion and Ask That Briefs Be Sub
mitted by Counsel.

and spirited hearing before the board Of
District Commissioners this forenoon.
The cab drivers claim that public hack
stands should be created by the Commits
sioners in front Of all hotels. so that pub
lie vehicles may be on a par with those
the hotels allow the livery stable keepers
to maintain in front Of the respective hos
telries.
The hotel men say they do not want the
public vehicles claiming they are not up
to livery-stable standards. and are not
agreeable to the high class Of persons who
are their guests After hearing both sides
the Commissioners invited the parties at
issue to submit through counsel briefs TAX
Ing up the legal phases OF the matter. 1t
appeared to the Commissioners that the
question was more of a legal one than one
of convenience.
Briefs Will Be Submitted.
These briefs will be submitted within the
next week or ten days. and the Commits
sioners will then take the matter up with
the corporation counsel, who was present
at the hearing this morning. In the tenn
porary absence of Commissioner Macfar-
land Commissioner West acted as presid-
ing officer of the board during the first part
Of the hearing
Mr.. D. w. Baker attorney for the Cab
and Carriage Drivers Union. on whose
complaint the hearing was granted, spoke
first. He said his clients wished to protest
against the manner in which livery car
riages are permitted to stand in front Of
the hotels, while the public hacks are de-
MED the privilege.
The cabmen stand upon the decision Of
the Court Of Appeals of the District which
has held that neither the Commissioners
nor Congress can set apart portion of the
public street for the uses of one class OF
vehicles and deny it to others, as all public
vehicles in the District should be licensed
alike and treated alike.
Mr. Baker said the ca bmen desired that
the Commissioners should either prosecute
the drivers of these livery stable behicles,
who, he said, were doing a public vehicle
business without public vehicle license, or
to require them to take out license and be
governed by the same laws as those applied
to the ordinary cabmen.
The stands in front of hotels, he said,
could be made public stands. This would
not prevent the hotel men from keeping
whatever public vehicles they desired upon
the stand, but would give the other cabs
right to the same privileges
Called Attention to Depot Cases.
Mr.. Baker called attention to the railroad
depot cases of few years ago, in which
the courts held that the Commissioners
could not grant the railroad companies spe-
cial privileges for their cabs. At the rail-
road depots now the public cabmen have
equal rights with the railroad cabs. Mr..
Baker declared that the cabs Of the men
represented by him are as good as the ones
the hotels are now using, and that the
drivers are as honest and upright.
I w. E. Thomas. president Of the Cab
Drivers Union, stated to the Commission
ers that the local membership of the union
is nearly 200. The union is affiliated with
the International Team Drivers Association
Of America and with the American Fedora
ton of Labor. He enumerated fourteen of
the principal hotels Of the city which have
arrangements with livery stables for stand
ing teams in front Of their houses. Other
cities. he claimed. have public hack stands
in front Of the principal hotels.
Our carriages and .eams are on par
with those now used by the hotels" Mr.
Thomas declared land we are willing to
parade them for comparison whenever we
may be requested to do so. If our carriages
were not as good as theirs We would not
ask the privilege of competing with them.
Mr.. Baker here interjected that II he
| should be permitted to interrogate the hotel
proprietors and managers he would prove
that Sole Of them were receiving revenues
from the livery stables for the privilege Of
standing their cabs in front Of the hotels.
This. he declared, was an unwarranted and
unlawful a.-empt to rent public street
space.
Mr.. Roessle Defends Position.
Mr.. T. E. Roessle. proprietor Of the Ar
lirgton Hotel, spoke first for the hotel and
livery men.
Our position in this matter he said, sis
a very simple one We stand on the same
footing as the business houses Of the COM
| munity, which are allowed the privilege Of
standing their teams in front for the de-
livery of goods. A guest will want to reach
the depot in ten minutes and we put him
into one of our cabs and away he goes and
makes the depot in time.
I'VE sometimes call cabs from the neigh
boring public stands when none of the
regular cabs is at hand. A public stand
would not be agreeable, as the Commits
sloners have before them now several COM
plants about noisy drivers at cab stands
l say this because of the statement made
here as to the responsibility of the public
cab drivers. l have no doubt but that thew
are respectable, but 1 must say they are
noisy. Our cabs are not allowed to solicit
The New York hotels have the privilege
We are seeking to maintain"
Mr.. Baker-"Aren't the cabs that stand In
front of the hotels in New York regular IL
censed public vehicles?'
Mr.. Roessle-"I don't know anything
about that; l know they are there-thirty
| or forty of them at some places"
Commissioner West-"Mr. Roesse, are
your cabs used at any time by the public?"
Mr.. Roessle-'They are used only for
those in the hotel
Gets Fifteen Per Cent.
Mr.. Baker-"Mr. Roessle. what pay do you
receive from Liveryman Macauley for the
privilege of standing his carriages in front
OF your hotel?'
Mr.. Roessle-"He pays me Is per cent"
Asked how much that amounted to in a
years time, Mr.. Roessle said it would not
buy him suit Of clothes. He said outside
parties sometimes sought to use the cabs
but they were generally refused.
w. F. Downey, a lveryman, next spoke
to the Commissioners on the subject He
wanted to say that the liverymen did pay
license and they also paid personal tax on
every horse and vehicle owned by them.
The individual drivers are not licensed, he
said. in reply to a question. He furnishes
cabs for the Shoreham Hotel
How much do you way the Shoreham
for the privlege?" Mr.. Baker asked.
Ten per cent" Mr.. Downey replied
Commissioner WeSt-'I don't see what
Mr.. Downeys private business affairs have
to do with the question here as to whether
or not the law is being Violated
Mr.. Baker-"We want to see, Mr.. Com
missioner whether or not the Shoreham
Hotel is renting public street space to pri-
waite parties"
In reply to questions from Mr. Baker,
Mr.. Downey said the drivers Of the VERY
vehicles at the hotels. or the carriage
clerks usually made contracts with ths.
patrons as to the fares. The vehicles did
not have the hack regulations In them and
paid no license, but the regular livery
stable license.