§ MR. LOUGHI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in response to his request, he has received from a conference of the London cab proprietors and drivers a statement of the system which, in their opinion, would be a reasonable substitute for the privilege cab system now existing at the railway stations; whether he has obtained the opinion of the railway companies upon these proposals; and if he can see his way to summon a conference of representatives of the companies and the cab trade with a view of arranging how this public service may be carried on in future, so as to put 397 an end to the friction which is at present existing?
§ SIR MATTHEW WHITE RIDLEYI received such a statement in December last. The proposals it contained were substantially the same as those which I had received from the drivers in the previous May, and which the railway companies, to whom I communicated them, with an expression of my hope that they might be found to form the basis for a settlement satisfactory to both parties, were unable to accept. I should be very glad if such a conference as the hon. Member suggests could be arranged. I have done my best in the past to bring one about, and will do so again if I see the slightest prospect of success. ["Hear, hear."]