In Paris, the hackney carriages are under strict regulation. The general custom has been to charge so much for a course, or journey, whether long or short, provided it be within the limits of Paris. This charge used to be one franc ; but practically, a fee to the driver raised it to a few sous more. A few years ago this system was changed ; every vehicle was provided by the authorities with a timepiece or watch, and fares were charged by the hour. For some reason this system was abandoned after a trial, and the old method of paying for the course resumed. The pernicious custom of allowing the driver to demand a fee or " pour boire," without defining its amount, con tinues.
Stage Carriages.—We have next to notice those public carriages which run regular stages or routes, and which charge by the journey, not by the mile or the hour.
Stage-coaches were first used in England soon after the introduction of hired carriages. In Scotland, in 1678, Provost Campbell established a coach to run from Glasgow to Edinburgh, " drawn by sax able horses, to leave Edinboro' ilk Monday morning, and return again (God willing) ilk Saturday night." The first mail coach travelled from London to Edinburgh about 1785, and to Glasgow in 1788. Springs were the first means towards better travelling ; since their invention, the increased speed and better appointment of English stage-coaches have been caused by the improvement of roads, in conjunction with the great demand for rapid travelling. In this country the best stage coaches were very perfect machines, and the arrangements by which they were conducted were well-planned, but some deterioration has taken place since their very general displacement by railways. The expense of horsing a four-horse coach, running at the speed of from nine to ten miles an hour was reckoned at 31. a double mile for 28 days (a lunar month); so that a person horsing ten miles of a coach passing backwards and forwards each day, required to earn or receive by way of remuneration 13 times 30/. or 3901. a year for his work. Mails aro exempt from turnpike tolls, but a tax is paid for them to the govern ment, and mileage to the contractor for the use of the coach. The Post-office allows them a certain sum, determined by circumstances, per mile for carrying the letters; in consideration of this, it claims a right to limit their number of passengers, and regulate their speed and time of starting : the guard is the servant of the Post-office.
Short-stage-coaches, plying in the neighbourhood of towns, have been nearly superseded by omnibuses.
Until about the year 1830, in the metropolis a few slow and un punctual stages were the only means of transit provided for the citizens to convey them to their suburban residences. A little earlier, only one stage plied from Paddington to the Bank; and this single vehicle, going in the morning and returning at night, was not always full. Its fares were two shillings inside, and eighteen-pence outside. The old stage-coaches could only carry four, or at most six, inside passengers ; and when an attempt was made, about the year 1800, to introduce a more commodious kind of vehicle, resembling an omnibus, the project failed, in consequence of a general prejudice against the hearse-like appearance of the carriage. The long-bodied carriage then
tried was drawn by four horses, and bad six wheels. When re introduced from Paris, the omnibus had four wheels, but was much longer and heavier than at present, and was drawn by three horses abreast. The first successful omnibus in London was started by a coach-builder named Shilhibeer, in 1829, to run between Greenwich and Charing-Cross, at fares considerably less than those of the old short stages ; in addition to which advantage, the greater part of the passengers were sheltered from the weather. Success in the first experiment led Shillibeer to establish omnibuses between Paddington and the Bank. After opposing the innovation most violently for a time, the old coach-proprietors followed his example, started omnibuses of their own, and by combined opposition succeeded in driving him entirely off the road ; not, however, before the new system of travelling was fully established.
A few notices concerning the omnibus system of the present day may be added; but we must first speak of the legislation on the subject of stage-carriages.
In 1799 the Act of Parliament was passed (19 Geo. III., c. 51) which first imposed a duty on hired carriages of any description. This duty has at times been variously regulated. By an Act passed in 1833, the duty on stage-coaches was made to depend on the number of miles such carriage is authorised by the licence to travel in the day, week, or month, as the case may be. This duty might be compounded for. Every stage-carriage is to have a numbered plate affixed to it ; a licence is necessary for every pair of plates, and the number of passengers each carriage is allowed to carry is stated in the licence. These regulations are applicable to all such carriages throughout the country, and include the more recently introduced omnibus, a word in no way recognised by the legislature. The conduct of the stage carriages which are employed in London and within ten miles of the General Post-office, is further regulated by an Act passed in 1838, in which they are directed to bo called "metropolitan stage-carriages," and by which, besides the rules applicable by previous acts to these conveyances as stage-carriages, other enactments are made as to the Stamp-Office [elates, &c. It also empowers the Secretary of State to appoint a Registrar of Metropolitan Stage-Carriages, whose duty it is to issue the licence which the Commissioners of Stamps are authorised to grant to drivers and conductors. These licences the registrar may grant to any person above 16 years of age who can produce certificates of his ability to drive, and of good character. The licence is renewable yearly, and with it is given an abstract of the laws and penalties to which the receiver is amenable, and a numbered ticket, the latter of which he is to wear conspicuously on his person, and not to transfer or lend. The duty is calculated in the proportion of so much per mile according to the number of passengers the carriage may be licensed to carry.