§ LORD BELPER,who rose to move the Second Reading of this Bill, said that it was an attempt to put down what was technically called "bilking." The clause of the Bill which dealt with this matter was drawn so as to include three classes of "bilkers"—(1) the man who hired a cab having good reason to know he had no money to pay for it; (2) the man who, having hired a cab, fraudulently endeavoured to avoid payment of the fare; and (3) the man who, having refused to pay his fare, also refused to give his proper address. All these cases, it was provided, could on conviction be summarily disposed of, and a penalty not exceeding 40s. might be disposed of, or, in the discretion of the Court, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 days. These provisions had been carefully considered, and were really founded on the Report of a Committee appointed by Mr. Asquith two years ago; that Committee dealt with a number of provisions with regard to regulations for cabs, and this was almost the only recommendation in their Report which had not been already carried out. At present the only power which a cabman had when defrauded of his fare would be to bring a civil action against the person who had defrauded him, which was naturally a somewhat cumbrous process, and which had no deterrent effect. He thought it would be admitted that it was only reasonable that a body of men who were subject to somewhat stringent regulations with regard to the conduct of their business should also be reasonably protected by Parliament against fraud on the part of those whom they had to 51 drive, and it was worth while remembering that a cabman could not refuse to take any one who wished to take him for hire. One clause of the Bill repealed a section of a former Act of Parliament, which compelled a cabman to drive the hirer to the nearest police-station in case of dispute; that provision had been considered to be somewhat onerous by cab drivers, and he believed it had hardly ever been put in force, so that it was proposed to repeal the power. Under the ordinary law the hirer, if he had money, could tell the cabman to drive him to a police-station if he wished. He begged to move the Second Reading of the Bill.
THE EARL OF KIMBERLEYsaid he had no objection whatever to make to the provisions of the Bill, but he hoped the noble Lord would look carefully to its phraseology before the Committee stage. A sub-section of the Bill provided that any person having hired or used a cab fraudulently, etc., and he did not understand how a cab could be used without being hired unless a man stole the cab.
§ LORD BELPERthought that the subsection referred to a man who hired a cab and subsequently attempted to defraud the cabman of his hire. He would, however, look into the matter.
Read 2a (according to Order), and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Tuesday next.