The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1916-10-14
AUTOCOMM|SSIONtR.
! EXPLAINS HIS DUTIES
Maryland Official Says Law
cornpeIs Him to Enforce
MOTOR Vehicle ACT.

m Tina. artieis. which 10 one or h series by
uoionei Baushmsn on the new motor vehicis
law. he describes the provisions regarding
licenses and tails some OF the means OF en-
forcing the law m the state.
BY col. e. AUSTIN BAuGHMAN,
Maryland Commissioner of Motor
Vehicles.
Part Of the automobile law takss nm
the orsanization OF the Department Of
Motor Vehicles OF Maryland. The law
rsauiLss that shall be the commits
sioner's duty. faithfully 10 exercise ev.
cry reasonable, effort TO secure the en-
tSss m9,Sr o. ys ,ss motor 9ss, yeRici: law 2
,,haii be reasonably and efficIentiy regu-
La.eu. with DUE regard 10 the convent
e s OF persons using motor vehicles and
nT ssiS.y OF the public In general
pointment OF a number OF men euui,,-
zee ,h motorcycles for snforcins
$1,000 Appropriated.
me sum Of $4,000 Is appropriated
Ior the employment of these mon
nd their exposes. This IL q good
- 'ess,ment, as last year over tI6, 600
na tsi, were ysrr 1,ss s,r., BY the office
70 twice that amount. '
SGh 81 q the ne receipts Of the oifloe. one
ths up.keee m of Yer q Beltimore for
The femsiSins 'f foufl2f,ss,.r ee 70 a tna
Sss.e roads commission for the up
tSr s 81 5ns t Ststs and st.ts-.id roads
s nad ,h thrs distributed was i42S.2ssil,
viii afnonnt ar. srs that this year II
Al this time I want 10 br,sav ,,.t.
some Of the reouirements NECESSARY
,SEe license can be issued by my
Sm,ce; the general public. I believe.
Of 'ha %o tss 0 ssiei Ss the
agency and that Il Is simply s0 = Suss.
money ana aS reseis,n osrt tMo ;s9s 2,
10 very erroneous impression, ba-
cause. as stated above. the ofiice L.
yesicleo I'M wiS2 the regulation of motor
late late I'll: traffic the Office must be
sure that the tars are being used on
a sns s car; t for which they are issucd
cars have the proper licenses and creS
Records Important. 49,
AS matter OF fact, the records that
are necessary to be kept in the office
are very important part of the office,
a. they frequently figure In damage
cases and other matters In the civil
courts.
In order to have these records cor
rect. application blanks, sixteen diff
ferent kinds on different colored paper,
have been prepared. and, as required by
Section 40 of the law. the owner or
applicant for the license must All out
the blank. Considerable informant ton
- printed on these blanks. and at this
time ! suggest. In view of the fact
that there Is a complete change in the
method Of classification Of cars, that
applicants secure these blanks, All
them up and file them early In De-
cember for the 1917 licenses Under
no circumstances can any. kind OF
license be issued unless the proper
blank is filled out by the owner OF
Der o: automobiles was SO large. some
times these blanks were filled up In
the office, but on account Of the other
duties OF the clerks Il was necessary
TO incorporate this clause In the law
requiring the blank to be filled out
previous to the time OF application for
the license.
Matter of Protection.
Another requirement that the public
thinks useless Is the necessity OF CIV
ing the manufacturers number OF the
car to be licensed. This. however, is
O matter for the protection Of the APP
piicant himself. In these days, when
automobile thefts are SO frequent, the
manufacturers number Ia the only
absolute evidence OF ownership Of the
car. No two cars of the same mako
have the same number. My onice Is
frequently called upon to prove the
ownership OF certain cars. and unless
the makers number Is given at the