Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-03-05

the mOtOr10t Tor SOnc siiho
past and is sure to be wei
come, especially those resid-
ing in the District of Columbia.
A bill has been introduced in the
Maryland legislature abolishins speeo
traps and the holding OF ROADSIDE
courts, where justices of the peace have
been in the habit of presiding from the
rear seat of an automobile. The bill
was introduced by State Senator War
field of the committee on finance and
repeats and enacts certain sections OF
the Maryland motor vehicle IA" OF
1912 and 1914.
Furthermore. it is provided in the
bill that the fees of the justices OF the
Deace and constables be cut down to
such a ridiculous sum that rev II any
local or municipal officers Will 80 10
the trouble of making arrests. In otner
words in neither case will the recon-.
pense be commensurate with the e!-
forts put forth Therefore. arrests
which have been made on wholeSale
scale in the past will in the future, un-
der the new law, be reduced 10 MIN
imum. In
The main feature of the present Dill
is to eliminate the practice of operat-
ing speed traps" which mas beeh 81
pronounced throughout the staIv "
Maryland for several years lnose
speed traps were operated by Varl.
ous municipalities at the expense OF
the motorist@ Once a motor1st was
caught in the net. he had little, II any,
redress with the result that IL mas
greatly reflected upon the honor OF ING
state and left sting that has been iet
by the state officials. 1t mattered niue
how prominent the persons arrested hap
pened to be they were haieo peiofe
justices of the peace, many OF WhoH
seat of an automobile at the side or q
road in the vicinity of the speed trap.
The practice in the past year or two
had become common one, ana hnndreos
of motorists of the National Cap1taI
were caught in this unfair manner ana
caused to stand trial in open court. much
to their humiliation. while their FRIENDS
passed by at the moment in their motor
cars
the complaints became general. and
much credit is due the Automobile Club
of Maryland. which organization took
w the individual cases, whether the
parties concerned were members of the
club or not. and presented all OF the
facts before officials of the state. Al
different times of the year. those oper-
ating speed traps in many instances
rear ed harvests. This was particularly
true when race meets were held at
Havre de Grace. Laurel. Pimlico, Bowie
and Upper Marlboro. Thousands of dol
lars have been collected on the Balti-
ore-Washin gton boulevard and on the
Marlboro pike the greater portion OF
which. il is said. went to those making
or participating in arrests and those en-
gagged in conducting The speed traps.
+
State Receives But Little.
Under the law. after the justices of
the peace, sheriffs and constables re-
hoir foa he nda IF ho
fines collected were to be turned over
to the state, but. according to reports.
the state rarely ever received the pro-
portionate amount due under the law
In one instance a municipality in this
state failed to turn over fines for a
long period. and a suit was filed against
the town to recover the money due the
state. Another disagreeable feature of
the speed trap scheme was the
amount Of the fines imposed. This sum
varied according to where the tourist
came from and the character of the
car and it's occupants. The proportion
of out-of-town tourists. or tourists
from other states who entered the Ma
tional Capital and departed without be-
ing caught in one of these traps. was
very small in comparison to the num-
Der who fell victims and were COM
PEELED to come across" with the coin
The harvest days were generally
Sundays and holidays. when nearly
every motorist would take spin in
his car The traps became 80 numer-
Gus throughout the state that the BUSH
ness man or professional man who was
engaged during the other days of the
week and sought a little recreation on
Sundays or holidays hesitated about
renturing out with his machine lest he
be caught and forced to pay for his
outing 1t did not matter whether he
was d law-abiding motorist not. if
he happened to go mile or two faster
than that set by specified town he
would be trapped on the outskirts and
not he permitted TO continue his jour
ney until he forfeited the amount re-
quested.
in most instances the Tagging and
sop-NatCh system we're used man
would generally he stationed at the top
OF hill with flag. If. in his opinion
motorist WAS going too fast, he would
N.tN. the flag and confederate a short
distance down the road would click mis-
SO" watch. and when the motorist
reached the man holding the watch. he
would maria bly, ne informed that he
mad exceeded tire speed limit No amount
o. talking or argument would help his
'@se- and he was always at the mercy
Of the town sheriff or constable o.
cssionally notorist would be shor, of
funds and give check. which was i'm
mediatell dishonored by the bank on its
receipt al the request of the signer of
the che h. This practice later became
Quite common, causing much disgust on
me part OF those engaged i'll this road
side game, with the result, ,nat no nnoro
checks would be accepted This made
tire situation for the motorist still more
enlba raising. After toleratinx This
abuse for several years the proper Of
ncisis were sought, and the amendment
onered to the Maryland automobile law
10 the result. Those who have been in
the habit OF collecting thousands of dol
lars IN the past viii now have to be con-
tent with a mere pitt4nce for the trouble
70 Nhich they may go N making ar
rests.
Fees Of Justices.
The new law in prescribing the fees
OF justices of the peace reads:
Every justice of the peace shall
maintain within the limits Of his county
Tor which ne Is appointed a suita bic
once for the transaction of his dutie,
Is such. and shall under no circum
stances try any case Invoking vio-
iatlon or any provision Of the motor
venice law OF this state. or impose or
collect any fine or collateral in anv such
case except within said ONCE or ir OUT
o,oe his ONCE hours. within the house
In which he regularly resides"
This il the se"tion which abolishes the
hoIolnx or courts On the roadside where
arrests are made. Under this section II
a motoiist is arrested on a public high
way and the Justice Of the peac. resides
several miles from the scene of the ar
rest as is quite often the case the Of
hter making the arrest will be COM
relied 10 go the distance. no matter