ALLEGATIONS DENIED

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21903, 2 October 1936, Page 15

ALLEGATIONS DENIED

CITY COUNCIL STATES • X * ITS CASE GIVING SERVICE TTO THE PUBLIC LEGISLATION PREFERRED TO BY-LAWS The statement that the Christchurch City Council would prefer statute l&w to local by-laws, as they Were more easily. enforceable, was made by Cf. Thomas chairman .of the traffic committee of the council, when denying the allegations made against the council %y various witnesses during the last two days. All the actions and decisions of the council were defended and documentary evidence was produced to refute accusations made. On behalf of the City Council, Mr Lascelles submitted that the control apd supervision Of motor-cabs was properly in tlie nands of local authorities. With proper statutory provisions a local authority Was competent to control and supervise the business, more especially as it had a knowledge of local conditions which was. so essential to the operation erf an industry of that kind. There were, however, some aspects, such as wages,, which the council felt were beyond Rs proper sphere and called for- governmental control, through the Arbitration Court, or otherwise. Fundamental Requirements The City Council in the provision of its by-laws had endeavoured constantly to keep in view two fundainen tal requirements , of the motor-cab system. namely (1) reasonable remunera tion to drivers and owners after the payment of all legitimate costs; and (2) reasonable charges to the public in respect of taxi fares. Involved m these objectives was some machinery for the limitation of licenses which must'necessarily vary with the altering requirements of the community, and it might be deemed wise .that this limitation of licenses should be fixed by statutory provision by reference to the population. ; Motor-cab difficulties of a serious nature existed throughout New Zealand, but, as affecting Christchurch, the council attributed these in the major part to the following cause, namely, the operation of a commission system under' circumstances which did not provide a reasonable livelihood for the drivers employed, thereby leading to a deterioration in morality, which, in turn, led to excessive and unfair competition. with all the vices of competition and few of its, virtues. A second difficulty was the lack of cooperation between the, various interests concerned In the motor-cab industry. A third cause was the difficulty of detecting offences, and the difficulty of the enforcement of the law, in part attributable to the reluctance of the' public- to co-operate with the authorities. This" was evidenced by the case of & passenger

getting off with a cheap fate, and yet being asked to assist in the pimsecutlon of a driver who had -treated his pocket well. „ - _ . A Common Basis "It may be that legislation is necessary to put drivers on something like a common basis —that is, to reduce the classes of operators to a common class of wages-men, or. in respect of ownerdrivers, to prevent. the hiring out erf more than one licensed vehicle, said Mr Lascelles. "Sickness, erf an ownerdriver may make a hiring-out necesSa "s , he r has arrived at the cab-mileage principle after exhaustive and careful consideration of alternative systems, and it has accepted the P rm * ciple that a driver should be paid so long as his cab runs in consequence of the hire—-from the point, of hiring back to the point of hiring, or to Cathedral square, whichever is the nearer. "The council heard representatives of the different classes in the industry. The estimates of a fair charge ranged from 6d to Is. In the result, the operators expressed themselves satisfied with 8d a mile. The council approved this charge as a fair one from the public point of view. It was adopted, and there has been little complaint. Need for Rationalisation "The council has realised that there is heed for rationalisation in the taxi industry,” said Mr referring to the provision of Stands. The stands promote convenience to the public; they reduce road wear; they lessen, Setrol consumption; without abuses icy provide probably the most efficient service for suburban communities. In Christchurch this system is on trial, and improvements will be made as they become necessary. “There has been complaint as to misleading taxi advertisements and the council feels that its powers of control should be extended to permit the remedying of such malpractices.” Mr Lascelles concluded. . . . In addition to making submissions to the committee, Thomas Milliken, chairman of the traffic committee of the Christchurch City Council, denied the allegations of partiality which had been made against the council It had been alleged that the council had failed to convict a drunken driver, "We made very full investigations,’ witness said. “Two of our most reliable inspectors were on the spot at the time of the accident and they have both made reports.” These reports were read by Milliken. the statements in them being that a car ran into one mudguard of a Gold Band taxi. The son of the proprietor of the taxi had declared that the driver was Intoxicated; but both inspectors had spoken to him and were satisfied with, his sobriety. The accident had occurred in the dark when the driver, swerved to avoid something on the . road and struck the back of a stationary taxi. The tail-light of the taxi was not on. Mr Lascelles: Is that a sample of the unwarranted criticism flung at the City Couhdl by Gold Band taxis through Mr Trillo? . .. . Witness; There has been a lot of Criticism, but nothing quite like that. There has been no bias, and we have dealt fairly and Justly with everyone who has come to us. "ah; Binff” Witness said that Trillo had complained to him of the scale of fares and witness had said that if any taxi proprietor wrote to'the council complaining, the fares would be Investigated, but Mr Trillo had notwritten. "One can only conclude that for some reason or Other he is satisfied With the position aa it is and that this talk of fid a mile is all bluff said Milliken. . , He urged that any decision of the committee be in the.,form of, vOgulations rather than that local, bodies should have to pass more 'by-laws. 4 !These can be attacked and taken to court On the ground that they are unreasonable," he said. "The council has been put to much expense through that. We would like to see a standardised form • of. applications- and, for licenses, and also some Indication of how the number of licenses might be reduced, so that any reduction has the

force of statute law behind it, end hot just the by-law. .. . “Because taxis c any all classes. $ people at all hours of the night it is essential that morrity taxi drivers be very high. Wages should be such as to attract the best class of man., “Under the commission system ft has been possible for, the owner, in the event of an accident in ’ which hxs driver was in the ri|ht,to clrim against the other party, bht .if the driver was in the wrong the claim was against the hirer of the car who often Is a mail of straw. Much of the trouble here has been caused by the commission system. Men on sustenance have been getting- a little extra from commission work, end because they were getting sustenance they Were prepared to do the work* more cheaply man Others who depend on it entirety for a livelihood, lhat leads to cut-throat competition and a deplorabty low standard of living." ■ /Die detection of taxi offences was very difficult, he added; as there was a reluctance on fie part of the public to give information about the charging of low fares. “Mr Trillo has made some suggestion of the control of taxis by the Government, the local body, or a public Company,’’ said Mr Lascfelles. "1 am a great believer in private enterprise,” replied Milliken. “There is ...» necessity for the formation of a company so far as I can she. I think the City Council can handle most of the difficulties.” \ Operators’ Flnatfce* He would like to see matters of finance Settled definitely by law, as the financial position of an applicant for a license was some protection against the sweating of drivers and some guarantee of continuity of service With the license not continually 1 changing - hands; There' had been much trafficking In licenses. The council had decided that the cheapest form of taxi transpotj was given by the suburban stand system. The stands were evailable to all drivers* except for the limitation of the number of cars which might use the stand at the one time. The telephone troubles could be overcome by cooperative action by the owners themselves. The opty other solution was to have an unattached telephone attendant, v

Evidence about the granting of a license to a man, who had recently come out of prison as alleged the previous* day was given by the . Chief traffic inspector, Herbert Macintosh. TJ" man . had applied in November, 1933, but as the police did not recommend the granting of a license the application was rejected. When another application was made in the following year the police recommended the granting of a monthly license, and this was done for six months. At the end of that year the police recommended the granting of a full license, and that was then granted, “There have been all sorts of abuses of the telephones,” said Macintosh. “They were abused in every possible way, and my experience of them was very bitter.’*. . He considered that a reduction In the number of taxis in the city was desirable. '; ;