HC Deb 04 November 1908 vol 195 c1214
MR. MARKHAM

I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the profits made by motor-taxi companies, and that the fares he has sanctioned are nearly double those permitted by the Paris traffic authorities for exactly the same cabs, he will reduce the rates forthwith.

*MR. HERBERT SAMUEL

My right hon. friend has no official information of the profits made by motor cab companies, and the conditions in Paris are so different that no inference can be drawn from the Paris fares as to those that ought to prevail here. He notices, however, that, in the evidence given before the Select Committee, it was stated that the fare for a taximeter cab in Paris was about one-third more than the fare for a horsed cab. At any rate, the profits now made by motor cabs in London must be regarded as due in part to the demand exceeding the supply, and present experience would not warrant a reduction in the rates.