Most of the motors with which we have to deal are carriages with four wheels, and these must pay the ordinary carriage tax, which is for a carriage with four or more wheels, to be drawn or propelled by mechanical power, the sum of 2l. 2s. 0d. There is also to be paid, under the Locomotives on Highways Act 1896, an additional duty if the weight of the locomotive (i.e. the motor carriage) exceed one ton unladen, but do not exceed two tons unladen, 2l. 2s., or if the weight of the locomotive exceed two tons unladen, 3l. 3s. od. It should be noted that unladen in this Act means without including the weight of any water, fuel, or accumulators used for the purpose of propulsion. As a matter of detail it may perhaps be mentioned that the latter licences have to be obtained from a collector of Inland Revenue or a Supervisor of Inland Revenue. The lighter vehicles pay as follows:—A quad is a four-wheeled carriage, and, therefore, pays as above, and so also does a tricycle used with a trailer, being classed as a five-wheeled carriage. For tricycles and bicycles the licence costs 15s., they being classed as light private carriages, the definition of which includes 'any carriage propelled upon a road by steam or electricity or any other mechanical power.' Those whom it interests will find a report of a case tried on the question of whether a carriage licence should be taken out for a motor tricycle, the decision being in the affirmative, in the 'Autocar' of May 26, 1900.
There is a doubt current as to whether a master is liable to his driver under the Workmen's Compensation Acts. This is not so, the first Act, that of 1897, referring to servants in a factory and certain other employments; although some places which to the lay mind would scarcely seem to be included in the word 'factory' have been held by the judges to be so classed, there seems no possibility of a motor-car being held to be a factory. The Act of 1900 only extended the application of the former Act to the case of agricultural labourers. While on the subject of accidents it may be mentioned that insurances are procurable which will indemnify both the
