YES, BUT DOES THE PREFECT HAVE THE RIGHT? …

A petition to the Council of State in favor of horse-drawn carriages

The troubles of Paris yesterday threw a cheerful note on the serious and tedious debates of the Council of State. The high assembly had, in fact, to examine the petition of the trade union chamber of entrepreneurs at exhibitions and festivals and of Messrs. Jallot, Catilon and Pillot against an order of the police prefect of December 27, 1921 which prohibits the circulation of freight carriages on certain public roads in Paris.
In this case, it concerned the prohibition made to certain categories of cars to circulate in certain districts of Paris between two o'clock and seven o'clock in the evening and in particular in the streets near the Opera and the Madeleine. The question asked was important since the Council of State was asked to say whether or not the police prefect has the right, not only to regulate traffic, an incontestable and uncontested right, but to prohibit access to certain roads to one or more categories of cars.

Mr. Courtault, lawyer for the trade union chamber, explained and defended with great tact and wit the thesis of the traders harmed by the prefectural decree.

Already in Boileau's time, he said, the congestion of Paris was fashionable and all the measures taken since by the lieutenants or prefects of police may have regulated the traffic jam, but traffic has not improved at all.
With the problem thus posed, Mr. Courtault added:
What is the cause of the current traffic difficulties in Paris? It is, says our police prefect, not the accessory causes, but the main cause, the primary cause; it is the cars. Well! Let's get rid of cars, or at least some cars, and the problem will be solved. It's as easy as pie, it's Christopher Columbus' egg, but it had to be thought of... The prefect thought of it.

On this joke, Mr Courtault set out to demonstrate that traders who occupy premises on one of the roads designated by the decree and who, by the nature of their business or for their simple convenience, use horse-drawn carriages, are obliged to cease exercising their business or their industry from 2 to 7 p.m. If this ban, which already appears serious enough for freedom of trade, is extended as requested by Mr Robaglia, deputy and municipal councillor, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for example, this will be equivalent to stopping trade for the entire day.

But can the prefect, under the pretext of regulating traffic, also suppress with a stroke of the pen the trade of horse dealers in Paris and force horse-using traders to sell their cavalry and vehicles and replace them with automobiles? "This is no longer a regulation," affirmed Mr. Courtault, "but a prohibition and an intolerable attack on the absolute rights of the individual." And, in closing, Mr. Courtault requested "most-favored-nation" treatment, a solution that would fully satisfy his dual personality as a lawyer and user of the streets of Paris.
Taking the floor in turn, Mr. André Ripert, government commissioner, endeavored to refute the arguments put forward against him and invoked above all the needs of the present hour and the public interest. He therefore concluded that the request should be rejected. The case was adjourned for consideration.

OIL AND PETROL PRICE LOWERING
In response to calls from the government, which, concerned with continuing the fight against the high cost of living in all areas, asked them to allow the French consumer to benefit without delay from the drop in prices in America, oil importers have decided to make, starting tomorrow, Monday, October 27, a drop of 10 francs per hectoliter on gasoline and 5 francs per hectoliter on oil. They have informed the Minister of Commerce of this decision,