Lieut.-Colonel PINKHAMasked the Home Secretary whether he will consent to the withdrawal of the present Regulations which allow stage carriages plying for hire within the Metropolitan Police area to carry more passengers than the numbers for which they are licensed, owing to the fact that there are now sufficient demobilised men who can be employed in driving and conducting any additional carriages such a withdrawal may necessitate?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe difficulty arises not from lack of men but from the insufficient number of vehicles during the busy hours of the clay. I fear that the Regulations as to overloading cannot, at present, be withdrawn without inflicting hardship upon the travelling public, especially during the hours mentioned.