The foregoing regulations (the infractions of which are punishable through the ordinary tribunals) do not materially differ from those of our own country, though they may be more stringently enforced. The other provisions, however, are materially different. The French Government fixes the amount of fare, prescribes the precise route to be observed and the time to be kept, and limits the number of omnibuses. On the 12th August, 1846, they were 387 in number, running along 36 lines, which are classed under the head of 12 routes (entreprises), in the following order:—
| Routes. | No. of Lines. | No. of Carriages. | Nos. according to the Licenses. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Omnibus Orléanaises and Diligentes | 13 | 151 | 1 to 151 |
| 2 Dames réunies | 3 | 29 | 152 to 180 |
| 3 Tricycles | 1 | 11 | 181 to 191 |
| 4 Favorites | 4 | 47 | 192 to 238 |
| 5 Béarnaises | 2 | 19 | 239 to 257 |
| 6 Citadines | 2 | 13 | 258 to 270 |
| 7 Batignolles—gazelles | 2 | 19 | 271 to 289 |
| 8 Hirondelles | 2 | 30 | 290 to 319 |
| 9 Parisiennes | 3 | 33 | 320 to 352 |
| 10 Constantines | 1 | 12 | 353 to 364 |
| 11 Excellentes | 2 | 15 | 365 to 379 |
| 12 Gauloises | 1 | 8 | 380 to 387 |
| 36 | 387 |
In order to prevent the inconvenience of too rigidly defined routes, a system of intercommunication has been established. At a given point (bureau des correspondances), a passenger may always be transferred to another omnibus, the conductor giving him a free ticket; and so may reach his destination, or the nearest point to it, from any of the starting-places. This system now exists, but very partially, on some of the London lines.
The number conveyed by a Parisian omnibus is fixed at 16; each vehicle is to be drawn by two horses, and is to unite “all the conditions of solidity, commodiousness, and elegance that may be desirable.” In order to ensure these conditions, the French Government directs in what manner every omnibus shall be built. Those built prior to the promulgation of the ordonnance (Aug. 12, 1846), regulating the construction of these vehicles, are still allowed to be “in circulation;” but after the 1st of January, 1852, no omnibus not constructed in exact accordance with the details laid down will be allowed “to circulate.” The height of the omnibus is fixed, as well as the length and the width; the circumference of the wheels, the adjustment of the springs, the hanging of the body, the formation of the ventilators, the lining and cushioning of the interior, the dimensions of the footsteps, and the disposition of the lamps, which are three in number.
The arrangements, where a footpath is not known in the streets of Paris, and a gutter is in existence, are tolerably significant of distinctions between the streets of the French and English capitals.
I shall now pass to the consideration of the English vehicles as they are at present conducted.
Omnibus Proprietors.
The “labourers” immediately connected with the trade in omnibuses are the proprietors, drivers, conductors, and time-keepers. Those less immediately but still in connexion with the trade are the “odd men” and the horsekeepers.
The earlier history of omnibus proprietors presents but a series of struggles and ruinous lawsuits, one proprietor with another, until many were ruined; and then several opposed companies or individuals coalesced or agreed; and these proprietaries now present a united, and, I believe, a prosperous body. They possess in reality a monopoly in omnibus conveyance; but I am assured it would not be easy under any other plan to serve the public better. All the proprietors of omnibuses may be said to be in union, as they act systematically and by arrangement, one proprietary with another. Their profits are, of course, apportioned, like those of other joint-stock companies, according to the number of shares held by individual members. On each route one member of the proprietary is appointed (“directed”) by his co-proprietors. The directory may be classed as the “executive department” of the body. The director can displace a driver on a week’s notice: but by some directors, who pride themselves on dealing summarily, it seems that the week’s notice is now and then dispensed with. The conductor he can displace at a day’s notice. The “odd men” sometimes supply the places of the officials so discharged until a meeting of the proprietary, held monthly for the most part, when new officers are appointed; there being always an abundance of applicants, who send or carry in testimonials of their fitness from persons known to the proprietors, or known to reside on the line of the route. The director may indeed appoint either driver or conductor at his discretion, if he see good reason to do so. The driver, however, is generally appointed and paid by the proprietor, while the conductor is more particularly the servant of the association. The proprietaries have so far a monopoly of the road, that they allow no new omnibuses to be started upon it. If a speculator should be bold enough to start new conveyances, the pre-existing proprietaries put a greater number of conveyances on the route, so that none are well filled; and one of the old proprietaries’ vehicles immediately precedes the omnibus of the speculator, and another immediately follows it; and thus three vehicles are on the ground, which may yield only customers for one: hence, as the whole number on the route has been largely increased, not one omnibus is well filled, and the speculator must in all probability be ruined, while the associated proprietors suffer but a temporary loss. So well is this now understood, that no one seems to think of embarking his money in the omnibus trade unless he “buys his times,” that is to say, unless he arranges by purchase; and a “new man” will often pay 400l. or 500l. for his “times,” to have the privilege of running his vehicles on a given route, and at given periods; in other words, for the privilege of becoming a recognised proprietor.
The proprietors pay their servants fairly, as a general rule; while, as a universal rule, they rigidly exact sobriety, punctuality, and cleanliness. Their great difficulty, all of them concur in stating, is to ensure honesty. Every proprietor insists upon the excessive difficulty of trusting men with uncounted money, if the men feel there is no efficient check to ensure to their employers a knowledge of the exact amount of their daily receipts. Several plans have been resorted to in order to obtain the desired check. Mr. Shillibeer’s I have already given. One plan now in practice is to engage a well-dressed woman, sometimes accompanied by a child, and she travels by the omnibus; and immediately on leaving it, fills up a paper for the proprietor, showing the number of insides and outs, of short and long fares. This method, however, does not ensure a thorough accuracy. It is difficult for a woman, who must take such a place in the vehicle as she can get, to ascertain the precise number of outsides and their respective fares. So difficult, that I am assured such a person has returned a smaller number than was actually conveyed. One gentleman who was formerly an omnibus proprietor, told me he employed a “ladylike,” and, as he believed, trusty woman, as a “check;” but by some means the conductors found out the calling of the “ladylike” woman, treated her, and she made very favourable returns for the conductors. Another lady was observed by a conductor, who bears an excellent character, and who mentioned the circumstance to me, to carry a small bag, from which, whenever a passenger got out, she drew, not very deftly it would seem, a bean, and placed it in one glove, as ladies carry their sixpences for the fare, or a pea, and placed it in the other. This process, the conductor felt assured, was “a check;” that the beans indicated the “long uns,” and the peas the “short uns:” so, when the unhappy woman desired to be put down at the bottom of Cheapside on a wintry evening, he contrived to land her in the very thickest of the mud, handing her out with great politeness. I may here observe, before I enter upon the subject, that the men who have maintained a character for integrity regard the checks with great bitterness, as they naturally feel more annoyed at being suspected than men who may be dishonestly inclined. Another conductor once found a memorandum-book in his omnibus, in which were regularly entered the “longs” and “shorts.”