The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-11
PROPOSED AUroMoBrIr LAw.

It would appear as If the legislative committee on roads, bridges and rivers in it's attempt to draw an automobile law, calculated to meet the demands of experience and protect the people, had been remarkably successful. Though it suggests in part the outcome of leg islative experiments in other States, it is, on the whole an original and cred- itable recognition of the rights of all concerned. It is not the fault of past general assemblies that this problem has not been more satisfactorily met. Rushing as it did into the life of the State. the automobile had to do some educating itself before the law could find way to consider its rights among other vehicles.
 The proposed law defines the motor vehicles 1t has in mind, and with com mendable simplicity arranges for the registration of auto owners as well as auto dealers. No particular change is made in the present law with regard to markers, registration certificates and licenses, but 1t is to be noted that the revenue therefrom goes hereafter to the highway commissioner for the repair of damage done the roads of the state by the rapidly moving machines A fee system is introduced and arranged on a graded plan by which autoists are made to pay according to the horse power of their machines, which in the sight of this law is equivalent to de- termining the amount of damage big machine may do the roads as compared with a smaller one. The power Is giv- en the highway commissioner to take from an auto owner his license flor lany cause which he may deem sufii- cient," but the offender will enjoy the right of an appeal to the courts for redress if actually injured. That ofii-  cial is in fact made the boss of the highways of the State both as regards home autoists and autoists from neigh boring states. We are perfectly willing to accept confidently that increase in the power of the highway commits sioner, as being the only State official who can be intelligently entrusted with it, but are we not to hear a word of protest from those who fear that such power will make political autocrat of him? The governor is denied the power to appoint county commissioners lest he build up a mighty political ma chine which would enslave us all, but the highway commissioner may now build up mighty political machine out of the clements which make up an autoist, that is, if the protest against the suggestion of Governor Woodruff will hold water.
 The two most important sections of
  the proposed bill relate to the speed problem and to the power of the cities, towns and boroughs to undertake in- dependent speed regulations If this bill becomes a law the unlawful speed will be that which Is reckless" whe- ther one or fifty miles an hour, and it is left for the officers of the government to determine when and where reckless ness begins. The trouble in the past has been that arbitrary speed limits, which have been mere guesses on the part of men inexperienced in automo- billing, have, in connection with the power exerted by thrifty towns to make laws of their own, enabled im- provident officials to practically hold up innocent travellers and take from them such sums of money as could with decency be reconciled with a fighty state of the public mind with regard to the danger of automobiling. With this law we can enter upon a rational policy of controlling class of people who have in only the rarest instances any intention of injuring the public, and above that it will enable i these people to travel decently without fear of being penalized for the benefit of greedy eonstables in the rural dis trict&