Monday, August 27, 1956
page 4
There seems to be a great deal of misunderstanding – at home and abroad – about the Tallahassee arrests of drivers operating cars to give rides to bus boycotters.
Perhaps because the City Commission went behind closed doors and didn't let the public in on its reason and motives when it decided to make the arrests, there is a general impression that the purpose is solely to kill the carpools and break the boycott.
If that were the case, we would have had more than seven arrests in a week. If it were a pure case of harassment, we would oppose it and we think the majority of white people of Tallahassee would be indignant.
It need not have those purposes to be justified. It can be upheld on the basis of public safely and fair administration of the city's franchise powers.
The boycotters had ample warning. For more than two weeks they knew the attorney general had given an opinion that cars operated PRIMARILY FOR THE TRANSPORTATION OF PEOPLE are subject to licensing as "fire-hire" vehicles whether the operators receive a fare directly from the passenger or not. Drivers who pick up a friend or even a stranger, as a neighborly act while going about their normal affairs are not operating "for hire."
That seems to be clear enough a distinction. If you're engaged in public transportation (whether the passenger pays or a merchant buys bus tickets for his patrons) you are operating a vehicle "for hire."
The boycotters have not denied their car pools are operating for the sole purpose of providing transportation for Negroes they don't want to ride the buses. They have publicized it widely. They have a control. Point at which boycotters call for pickups, just as the franchised taxi operators do. The police claim they have cars running regular bus routes, just ahead of the bus schedule to pick up those who are waiting.
The boycotters have set up a transportation system. The only differences between it and those of the bus company and four taxi companies are that they get their operating expenses from public contributions – and that they are unregulated.
The franchised "for-hire" operators must observe strict rules. They must have adequate liability insurance for protection of their passengers and others on the street. They must paint numbers of their vehicles so the public can identify and report unsafe operators. Their drivers must show they are safe drivers. They may carry only a limited number of passengers. Buses must stick to published routes. Cabs may not cruise around hunting passengers. They must observe restrictions on parking. Their vehicles are subject to city inspection.
Those regulations are necessary for public safety and convenience. If we didn't have them, our streets would be a chaos of competition as each operator tried to beat his rival to a fare.
Since the boycotters have set up a transportation system in direct, fare-free competition to those franchised operators (including two cab companies operated by their own people) the City in fairness to the regulated operators and in consideration of public safety must insist that they meet the same standards.
Perhaps the officials have been tolerant too long in an effort to avoid bad publicity and prevent agitation. If any other group had tried similar operations without a franchise, it would have been stopped long ago.
