Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

THE CAB ALMOST the first thing that strikes one when studying the cab industry is the great proportion of masters to be found amongst its members. The joint- stock principle is not entirely absent. Con- sidering, however, the important place which it occupies generally in modern commercial life, it is noteworthy that the limited liability company is very far from being a common feature of the cab trade. In London the INDUSTRY. cab traffic. 1 he London Police have a special staff at Scotland Yard for dealing with matters relating to the trade. An applicant for a driver’s licence is there sub- mitted to a searching examination in the topography of the metropolis. Seeing that I number of men licensed by the Police authorities to drive hackney carriages is practically fifteen thousand. Of this number it is computed that between two and three thousand own a single cab and drive it themselves. The greater portion of the cab trade, however, is in the hands of small owners, working from five to ten cabs and from seven to fifteen horses. A small number of London firms own over a hundred cabs ; but, unlike other trades, there is no sign whatever of the wealthy capitalist absorbing his poorer competitor. In all the leading' towns of Great Britain and of the Continent the Police are endowed with drastic powers for the regulation of the Photo t Cassell &■ Co., Ltd. BUILDING CABS AT MESSRS. FORDER AND CO.’s WORKS, WOLVERHAMPTON. in London there are about thirty thousand streets, the examiner finds little difficulty in puzzling candidates. The questions are, however, always restricted to the locality of places of some importance. Those who qualify leceive a badge, for which an annual fee of 5s. has to be paid to the Police, the yearly revenue from this source amounting to between three and four thousand pounds. No hackney carriage is permitted to ply for hire on the streets of London until it has been certified as suitable for the purpose by the police inspector specially employed upon this duty. I he standard for hackney carriages demands not only soundness of build and material, but likewise some