The Horseless Carriage Conflict

Automobile owners of Tacoma appeared before the police and license committee yesterday to protest against the passage of an ordinance regulating the operation of automobiles in the city. The committee said there was no objection to reasonable regulations, but there was very strong opposition to some of the requirements. The most objectionable features were the speed limits, the size of license numbers, and requiring machines to stop whenever requested to do so by drivers of teams. After much discussion, several amendments satisfactory to the committee were made, but the most objectionable section—that requiring automobiles to stop whenever requested by drivers of horses—was retained. Under the ordinance, drivers of fish wagons, hack drivers, and others holding up a hand can immediately force the fashionable gasoline wagons to come to a stop. All of which is declared by the owners to be unfair and somewhat nonsensical.