Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1914-09-11
AUTO OWNERS
CANNOT ESCAPE
TAX GATHERER
MANY ARE THE TRICKS OF THE
EVADERS BUT FUTILE ARE
THEIR ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE
PAYMENT OF THEIR SHARES.

Evasion Of the automobile license
law and failure to procure licenses
before running autos is likely t.
bring some auto owners to grief in
this state.
1t is a misdemeanor to run a car
OF the public streets and highways
and to run a car with last years
license will subject the owner OF
driver of the car to a fine of three
hundred dollars or term of six
months in the county JAIL or both fine
and Imprisonment may be imposed il
the judge happens to feel grouchy.
Joe Wheeler, who is state license
inspector having in his district the
eighteen counties east of Idaho.
Boise, Elmore and Owyhee counties
has nearly finished the work of in
terviewing the auto owners with the
object of learning their status.
When he started his investigation
under the direction of the secretary
of state and the state highway COM
mission there were about fifteen o.
twenty per cent of the auto and
motorcycle owners of this district who
had not complied with the law. Mr..
Wheeler has succeeded in collecting
from this bunch in the neighborhood
of twelve thousand dollars, which is
TO be applied toward the improvement
of the highways within the district.
In speaking of the work in which he
is engaged, Mr.. Wheeler related sew
eral stories of the subterfuges to
which auto owners have been in the
habit of resorting in order to evade the
payment of their auto tax.
Among the more fragrant violations
of the law was the case of a man
down on the Snake river who painted
his blue 1918 license red and splashed
mud over the figure 49," In all pro-
liability the trick would have worked
had not Mr.. Wheeler's suspicious
been aroused by the nervous air of
the man during conversation. When
found out, the violator said that he
had no knowledge of the painting,
but believed that his boys must have
done it. He was informed that while
boys will be boys, a new tag bearing
the figures 1914" would have to be
procured if he wished to escape pros
ecution.
A common and more or less wide
spread stunt is to remove a motor
cycle tag from the cycle and place it
on an auto. The only difference in
the two classes of tags is that the
motorcycle license costs only five dol
lars while the auto tag costs fifteen
TO forty.
Cases have been reported of owners
of old cars turning in the old machine
and retaining the license tag, which
they later placed on the new car.
if they should purchase one. Some 9TH
ers have sold their cars to people
outside the state and retained the
tags for use on new machines. Their
offenses are punishable by the imposi-
tion of the penalty mentioned above.
Mr.. Wheeler stated that violations
were readily discovered, the auto own
ers who have paid for their 1914
licenses not being willing that others
should run machines without kicking
in with their legal portion of the ex-
pense of maintaining the public roads
OF the state. and quickly reporting
any illegal practice.
An auto dealers license costs thirty
five dollars for one machine and one
dollar for each additional machine
used for demonstration purposes.
Under the law. a dealer who sells a
car must provide a tag costing one
dollar for the car. this tag being good
for fifteen days from the date of sale.
This period gives the purchaser time
enough to procure a regular license
tag. for which he must pay fifteen to
forty dollars. according to the horse
power and style of car.
1t is the duty of the inspector to
report alleged violations to the prose-
cutting attorney and sheriff Of the 7
counties in which they occur. and it is
hen up to the local authorities to see
hat the law is obeyed. In one or two
Instances the prosecutor and sheriff
lave not forced compliance with the
aw after being notified, and these /