The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1920-11-20
TERMONT'S EFFORTS
TO CONTROL AUTOS
Were Interestingly Described to Barre
Audience By Secretary of
State Black.

y
Secretary of State Harry A. Black in
talk given before the Barre Board Of
Trade and Vincitia club at the rooms Of
the latter last evening, the talk being
the second of the series of three under
the Joint auspices of the Greater Yer
mont association and the local board
of trade. The third number is a talk
by Linus Leavens, state commissioner
of fish and game, to be given in De-
cember.
Secretary of State Black pointed out
that only as far back as 1909, Vermont
had but 1868 automobiles registered,
with an income of $26,657 to the state
from the registration, while up to Nov.
], this year, toal of 3l,349 cars had
been registered, the income to the
state from the department being $55l I
547. There viii come a time, said Sec
retary Black, when the saturation
point will be reached; that is, when
the state will have reached its capacity
in requirement of cars, when the num-
Der registered from year to year will
be practically stationary. That time
has not yet come, and the secretary is
looking for total registration of as
many as $4,000 cars in 1921, making
the revenue TO the state in the vicinity
of S650g00.
What to do with this large number
of motor vehicles, how to keep the driv-
ers under proper restraint, what are
the best means of protecting the public
and the users Of the motor vehicles
constitute a problem which is taxing
the ingenuity of the secretary of
states office, over and above the bur-
dening of that department with actual
work of registration. Secretary Black
has had reported to him thus far this
year 2.l00 accidents of various sorts,
and included in the list were u fatali-
ties in which motor vehicles figured
To Secretary Black the best means
of protecting the public and the drivers
was to put check on the reckless and
irresponsible users of motor VEHICLES,
to prevent as many as possible from
securing licenses to operate and to
weed out such of those who did secure
licenses who had proven themselves to
be unsafe persons, either through physi-
cal defects, temperament or addiction
to the use of liquor in excess. The
speaker admitted that some persons
with physical defects We're not abso-
lutely disqualified if they were guided
by the safe and sane ide,. Persons
with one arm, with one leg.S with one
eye, with defective hearing might b.
qualified drivers of cars providing they
were guided by feeling of careful
ness.
As an illustration, Secrstary Black
told of one Vermont man Who has been
running car for years although hav-
ing one wooden arm, one wooden foot
and one wooden leg and foot, and he
never has had any trouble, all because
he maintained the safe and sane idea
OF motor travel.
1t is the impatient man, the man
who can't wait few seconds, who
makes a good deal of the trouble on
the Vermont highways. If he comes up
behind string of eight automobiles all
going 25 miles an hour that impatient
motorist cannot wait, he's got to pass
every machine ahead of him; and in so
doing he runs great risk to himself and
to the others. Cutting in" to pass a
car, with another approaching, is one
of the most dangerous situations
brought about by the failure to observe
the rules Of the road. Maintaining
great speed while approaching another
car on narrow highway or in bridge
is another evil, resulting oftentlmes in
sideswiping the cars, after which each
driver AYERS. in making his report to
the secretary of state, that the other
fellow didn't give him room enough,
and both assert that their right wheels
were "out in the grass
Then there is the fellow who goes
out and fills up on liquor and presumes
to think that he is competent to drive
an automobile Persons of this. stamp
make up a considerable part OF the
hard ticket" list which is maintained
in the secretary Of states ,hice, some
Of whom will never get another license
if Secretary Black has his say in the
matter: and il is TO be presumed that
he viii have his say because he is the
final authority in the matter of grant
ing licenses.
Secretary Black said he did not re
move licenses in order TO punish the
operators but to serve as an object les
son. He declared that he was under
great pressure at times because OF the
insistence that this or that person
should have a license back. The ex-op-
orators not only come themselves to
the Office and make their plea, but
they sometimes send their lawyers and
thew get their friends to make inter
cession through the mails. II is hard
matter TO decide because the secretary |
Of states department does not wish TO
work an injustice on anybody, simply |
desiring TO protect the public and to
make the highways as safe as possible. |
That the highways are not abso-
uteIv safe was brought out by the |
reading Of the list of % fatalities in
during the present year, to-
yether with brief explanation Of |
zach. The reading Of the list gave a
gloomy touch TO an otherwise optimis-
IL address but Il served TO empha-
,ize the importance of the speakers
previous words about the desirability 1
II using the highways with due degree
II caution. Secretary Black. had re
erred TO the fact in the early part OF
,is address that not one Of the fatal
les had occurred in Barre; in fact.
Barre has the clesnest record Of any 4
.ity in the state, he asserted. He did 7
lot know how TO account for The clean
ecord but thought that proper poli,e
may have had something
o do with H.
Secretary Of State Blacks entire
ak was not taken up with consider
Iiion Of automobiles although he ad