Evening star., 1912-12-24
FINED ON A TECHNICALITY
License Tags Said to Have Been
Swinging Instead of Fixed.
MUCH INDIGNATION Is FELT
Hold-Ups Near Chevy Chase Club
Said to Have Melted the
State Nearly $1,000. /,

Automobile owners and drivers living
in the District are up I'm arms over tho
latest actions OF Maryland deputy sherifs,
and especially appointed roadside Justices,
In holding up and fining autoists on tho
fiimsiest OF technicalities, and demands
are being made upon the Commissioners
Of the District that some sort OF retaiia.
tory measures be adopted that viii force
the Maryland officials to alter their at.
titude.
The hold-ups near the Chevy Chase Club
last Sunday. when dozens OF Washington
automobilists were halted and fined by a
deputy sheriff from Glen Echo because
the rear tags on their machines were
swinging. has caused much indignation
among the automobile owners In the Dis
trict Of Columbia The deputy sheriff In
question. after appointing a Washington
youth to act as special judge. stationed
himself beside the road near the Chevy
Chase Club, halted every passing auto
mobile, and, with the aid OF the specially
appointed Justice assessed fines OF So
to S15
Maryland Law as to Tags.
The Maryland automobile license law
says that rear tags on machines shall
be securely fastened, and this pro-
vision has been construed by some to
mean that the tags must not swing. In
every case the drivers Of the machines
who were held up last Sunday had cur
rent Maryland license tags securely
affixed to the rear OF their machines.
The tags were fastened In the usual
manner, however. by strong wires that
permit the tags to hang free from the
points OF suspension. The Glen Echo
deputy and his specially appointed
Justice" declared that the tutoists who
had not riveted their tags to the rear
of their machines were law violators
When no protest was made against
the action of the deputy the fine was s..
but when any Washington automobiles
registered kick the deputy remarked.
THAT will cost you SO extra, and the
tribute was collected before the machine
was permitted to proceed.
Exacting Tribute.
Harry Wardman. John X. Heyl. Percy
Thompson. Henry Flather and more than
score of others were held up in this
manner. and the deputy and his specially
appointed Justice collected sum that
could not have been much less than
81 600 At one time five machines were
held in the road while the Glen Echo
deputy exacted tribute from the owner
of each car. The sheriff's legal fee from
each fine" so assessed and collected is
10 cents.
Payments to Maryland.
Washington autoists declare that they
pay to the state of Maryland each year
close to $4,000 in auto license fees.
During seven months Of the present year.
under the states new law. more than
$21 900 in fees was paid by autoists lir-
ing in the District, and the aggregate OF
the fees that will be paid for 1913 will
be in excess of 10000. according to lie
Roy Marks. District deputy for Mary
land, through whose office the greater
part of the license money passes. For
this sum the automobile owners OF Wash
ington who are compelled to cross the
line into Maryland are given only two
decent roads on which to travel-the
newly completed Baltimore pike and the
Rockville pike, as yet unfinished.
Every other road leading out OF the
District into Maryland is little better
than a country lane. In addition. dep
uty sheriffs and specially appointed road
side justices station themselves beside
the roads. hold up drivers of machines,
regardless of whether they have paid the
state license fee and carry tags or not.
and assess fines. usually making the trib-
ute just about the amount the victim has
in his pocket when he Is halted.
Movement for Retaliation.
Concerted action, it was stated today.
will be taken within a short time TO OBJ
tain additional police regulations inside
the District of Columbia that will make
things as unpleasant and expensive fot
Maryland autoists as they have been
made in Maryland for Washington resi-
dents
Several plans are under consideration.
and the cooperation of the District
Commissioners has been promised in
the effort to retaliate upon the Mary
land officials through the automobile
owners living in that state but COM
PEELED to transact business in Wash
ington. Just what plan will be adopted,
according to those who are pushing the
movement for retaliation. is not
definitely known: but that a plan is
under discussion that will speedily make
the Maryland sheriffs. deputies and spe
cial roadside judges sue for mercy is
the confident declaration that was made
today by one of the most prominent
automobile men in Washington.