Since the year 1822 hackney carriage-drivers have been required to deposit any articles which may be accidentally left in their vehicles with the registrar of licences, to whom the owners of the lost property may apply for its restoration. The property thus recovered has often exceeded 10,000/. in a single year. To lessen the risk in reference to one important department of hackney carriage business, the railway companies which have termini in London enter into arrangements by which a limited number of carriages, driven only by men of well attested respectability, are allowed to stand within their stations, to convey passengers to their respective destinations, under a system of supervision so strict, that any case of misconduct or overcharge is almost certain to be brought home to the guilty party.
The hackney carriages of the metropolis are now regulated as to vehicles, drivers, and fares by the Act 16 & 17 Vict. c. 33, (1853). Every owner of a stage-carriage must be licensed. On applying to the Commissioners of Police for a licence, his vehicle is to be inspected; if it be approved on inspection, the Commissioners grant a certificate, stating how many persons the vehicle is permitted to carry. On the presentation of this certificate, the Board of Inland Revenue grants a licence. The police commissioners are empowered, at any time deemed by them proper, to order an inspection of metropolitan stage and hackney-carriages and horses; if any are found in improper condition, notice thereof is sent to the proprietor ; if he neglect to attend to this warning, the commissioners may suspend his licence for a stated time, and take away his Stamp Office plate until after the expiration of that time. The fares for hackney-carriages are fixed at 6d. for every mile or fraction of a mile, or 2s. per hour. Back fares are disallowed ; but 6d. per quarter of an hour is allowed for detention. Each hackney carriage is to be provided with a table of fares, and each driver with a book of fares, which he is to produce when required. The driver must not refuse to carry a fare, if the distance be within six miles or the time within an hour ; beyond these limits he may exercise an option. When hired by time, the driver is not bound to go more than four miles an hour, unless paid 6d. per mile extra. The driver is to give a ticket to his fare, inscribed with the Stamp Office number of the carriage. The carriage must contain, in writing, a notification of the number of persons it may carry at once. A reasonable quantity of luggage is to be taken free of charge. Property left in carriages is to be accounted for, by the driver, under certain regulations. Lamps are to be lighted in or on the carriages at night. The police are to have control over all the coach-stands. In the cases where a hackney carriage is drawn by more than one horse, an addition of one-third may be made to the fare. The driver may refuse to charge by time instead
of distance, between eight in the evening and six in the morning. If more than two persons ride in a hackney carriage, 6d. for each is charged (over any distance) beyond the regular fare.—All these pro visions are enforced by fine or imprisonment.
The above act related chiefly to hackney-carriages in connection with the public. Another, relating to their connection with the revenue, was passed in the same year (16 & 17 Vict. C. 127). The old duties (51. for a licence, and 108. per week) were repealed, and lower duties imposed. The licence for every hackney-carriage is to be 21., and the duty is to be 68. or 78., according as the carriage is to be worked six or seven days in a week. Every licence is for one year only, and is to be renewed annually. The number-plate is proof of the licence. Drivers are entitled to charge 18. per mile instead of 6d. for any portion of their route beyond four miles from Charing Cross ; provided the carriage is discharged beyond that limit. A proprietor must not withdraw his hackney-carriage from plying, beyond one day at a time, without giving notice of his intention to that effect.
We must here state that hackney carriages, as regulated by law, comprise only those which work within the police limits of the metro polis. Beyond those limits, the owners have to pay post-horse duty [Pontne], and possibly some local tax imposed by municipal authori ties; but none of the duties mentioned in this article. The sum contributed to the national revenue by the London cabs (for in the middle of 1860 there was only one pair-horse hackney-coach left) is considerable. The duty of a shilling a day brings in about 80,0001. or 85,0001. per annum ; while the cab licence, and the drivers' and water-men's licences, raise this to about 40001. more. There were rather over 5100 London cabs in the middle of 1860. The drivers are more numerous than the cabs ; for there are often a day driver and a night driver for the same vehicle. The six-day cabs, which do not run on Sundays, bear for distinction numbers expressed by five figures, beginning with 10,000. Of the sum realised by the government from the metropolitan cabs, about 13,0001. is annually banded over to the Commissioners of Police, to defray the expenses of supervision, water men, coach-stands, &c. It is computed that seven horses are on an average kept for three cabs. Some of the cab-masters own above fifty vehicles eaeh ; most of them own a few only : and in certain eases the cabman is the owner of the vehicle which he drives. The patent or' Hansom ' cabs, peculiar for their construction and their high speed, are well-horsed ; and there is observable a gradual improvement in the general condition of the horses employed in the London cabs.