CAB-DRIVERS' LICENSES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 231, 29 September 1910, Page 6

CAB-DRIVERS' LICENSES.

A matter of some interest to cabdrivers is at present engaging the attention of the Devonport Borough Coun- j cil, the question involved being as to j whether the holder of a cab license in Devonport can bring his cab over to j the city and ply for hire, without first J having obtained a license for himself | and cab from the Auckland Town Coun- j ciL The same question arises in connec- j tion with those obtaining a license in. Auckland, and plying for hire at Devonport. Apparently, some of the Devon-1 port cab-drivers were under the impres-1 sion that a license taken out at Devon-1 port privileged them to ply for hire in j the city, arid were surprised to be inform- j ed by the City Inspector that the license j held by them did not include the city. Mr. Wm.'Handley (Mayor of Devonport), iv speaking of the matter at a special meeting of the Council, remarked • that there appeared to be a great dif-' fererice of opinion in connection with the j point involved. The Municipal Corpora-j tions Act provided that a vehicle license j taken out under a by-law in the borough, ! within which. the vehicle mostly plies, i shall suffice within five miles therefrom, i and he thought that a license given at Devonport should hold good iv town. Cr. Timewell said he was of the opinion that a cab-driver licensed at Devonport would require to take out a license at. Auckland, in order to ply for hire in town. He contended that being separot- j ed, by.,the, harbQur, l made all,-ithe. n ,di-1 ference, and emphasised the following f provisions of the Act:—"Where two or j more boroughs, or -where a borough and j some other district, are wholly or partly, situated within five miles of one another, j and are not separated by a navigable , river, harbour, or arm of, the sea, the several local authorities may agree that one of them shall collect the license fees! for vehicles and drivers plying in any ot the • said districts; and the -local ! authority so agreed on, after deducting ' ten per centum of the amount so collected to cover the cost of collection and j supervision, shall distribute the residue ] rateably between the said districts in | the proportion that the population of each bears to the total population of all." It is probable that a test case will be made, in order to obtain the ruling of the Court on the question.