Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-10-22

it, Of which the Grange and Farmers
union were the chief leaders.
1.-THE Oregon road act of 1917 made
| provision for a schedule of license fees
to be paid by motor vehicles which !
the aggregate would furnish sufficient
revenue to pay the interest and retire,
in annual installments, the principal of
! the &c. 900 bonds authorized. This,
in fact, was the proposition which the
| motor vehicle owners made to the peo-
pie of Oregon. They agreed that if
the people would loan the credit of the
state in support Of the undertaking, the
motor vehicle ownerS would assume
the entire obligation, including prin-
cipal and interest, and that not one
dollar of general tax would ever be
i placed against real estate. This pro-
posal was the chief object OF attack
by the opponents of the measure. 1t
was characterized as a base subterfuge
and an impossible and impractical I'M
dertaking.
Kept Promises
81 am not familiar with the con-
you that, Notwithstanding the fact
| that since the original 1917 issue of
| So, 600, 900 bonds, additional bonds to
| the amount of $4,000, 900, have been
issued and that, nevertheless not one
tdollar of taxation has even been
levied against real estate in the state
| of Oregon for any state expenditures
on public roads. The only exception
to this statement is an old quarter mill
tax levy that has been on the sta
tute books for many years. The obi
| cations which were assumed i'll 1917
by the motor vehicle owners of Ore
gon has been kept and performed in
every particular.
'But that is not all. Notwithstand-
ing the fact that the motor vehicle
owners pay the entire cost of build
ing state roads in Oregon, never the
| less, it costs less to WI an automO-
bile in the state of Oregon than in
a large majority if not all of the other
states of the union.
'1n 1917, the previous motor vehicle
license fees in Oregon were doubled.
This brought them up to just about
what your present fees in Montana
are. In 1919, only two years after
the hard struggles of the road pro-
overwhelmed with demands from
every part of the state for a further
increase of the license fees to any
sum that might be necessary TO sup
port additional bond issues for the
building of more roads. The slogan
everywhere was double, tribble or
quadruple the fees if necessary but
give us the roads The very same
persons who in 1917 had been most
bitter in their opposition to the road
program We're among those who now
urged further progressive action.
What had happened in the mean
time was that the people had gotten a
taste of good roads. This taste once
taken into the system acts upon the
mind like an en~slaving narcotic upon
the human body.
AT first we followed other states
in basing our meteor vehicle licenses
on horse power. 1t led to a most
unjust ard inequitable schedule. After
a hard legislative fight, which was
merely a campaign of education, we
succeeded in abolishing it. and adopt
ed weight as our fee basis, Since
that time IS other states have follow
ed us.
Theories of Taxation
Il cannot take time to enter into
a full discussion of this subject. but
let me say in brief that any tax or
license fee which a state undertakes
| 10 lE1DDSt upon tut uIOihL htuItic
should primarily be based not only
sound business principles but also
upon some sound theory of cOnstitu-
tional law. and, secondly should be
applied in conformity with the prin-
ciples underlying that theory.
Il am not familiar wit hthe con
stitutional laws of Montana but speak
ing from the standpoint of Oregon
there are only three theories of law
under which a tax license fee may be
imposed on a motor vehicle. These
are:
"First-The police powers of the
state. If a license fee is charged un
der this theory the fees charged must
be limited to the reasonable cost of the
policing, and the revenue derived from
such source cannot be diverted to any
other urpos The supreme court OF
several states I believe. have frequent
ly held that a taxing body cannot levy
a tax for revenue under the guise of Z
! police license.
'Second-A tax may be imposed fol-
! the purpose of evenue. The Oregon
constitution provides that property may
be classified for purposes of taxation
This makes it easy To impose a spe.
cial tax on the motor vehicle which
need not apply to other property. But
a tax for revenue must be based OF
value and must be determined by as.
lsessment.
"Third-A tax may be imposed fol
the use of a particular privilege. OF
for the privilege of use. Under this
theory the state has the right TO charge
for the privilege of the use OF its pub
lie highways. and the value of such u.s.
may be computed according to tb'
wear and tear caused thereby, plus til,
original cost of supplying the facility.
The "Horse Power" Tax
II stated that the application of thu
tax should conform with the principle: