Pocahontas star herald., 1923-10-19
GOVERNOR NAMES
ROAD COMMISSIONERS

In the reorganization Of the state
Highway Commission it Is to be com
posed of five members, one. the ex
officio chairman. to be elected. and the
four others TO be appointed by the
governor, one from each of the four
agricultural school districts. Two OF
the appionted commissioners are To
serve to February 1, 1928. and two Ia
February l. 1927. Those appointed by
the Governor are: Theodore Maxfield
of Batesyille, ]. S. Turner of Ozark
w. y. Foster of Hope and DIR. O. l.
Williams of Mariana. Col. John r.
Fordyee of Hot Springs was offered
appointment on the Highway Advisory
1 Board. Both Mr.. Turner and Colonel
Fordyce are members Of the state
Highway Commission which will be SUI
perseded by the new board under the
Harrelson act
The attorney general is named as at.
torney for the Highway Commission
and is authorized to appoint an addl.
ti0nal assistant who will have special
charge of the highway matters.
The Highway Commission is charged
with the duty of beginning as soon as
practicable to take over the mainte-
nance Of all roads In the state system
relieving the counties of this expense
II is estimated that maintenance Of the
roads will average cost Of about 500
a mile. According to chart in the
latest report of the Highway Depart
ment Randolph county has about "a
miles of primary, secondary and state
roads and viii receive about $4,000
annually, with which to retire out
standing bonds, construct and main
tain roads. The county has 30 miles
OF road that will be maintained, exclu
sively. as we understand It, by the
state.
The new highway commission is di
rected by the act to ascertain tn,
amount and dates OF maturity Of bonds
outstanding on January l, 1924. and
as soon as sufficient funds are avail
able begin the distribution of the 81,
900, 900 fund. or as much of II is avail
able In the treasury July 1.
1 f.......astn.. - fs.Na Inn
lprovsment DISTRICTS is forbidden. ant
the future issuance of bonds In dis
tricts formed by special acts since
1915 is forbidden. unless approved b,
a majority Of both number and lane
value Of fee simple land owners at I
special election called for the purpos'
Of ascertaining the wishes Of the peo
pie. q
A tax of cents gallon an advance
OF l cent over the present rate, Is levi
ed ON gasoline and a tax Of 10 cent
a gallon on motor oil. which hithert'
has been untaxed. An exception i
made in the case Of Texarkana, whicl
is situated directly on the Arkansas
Texas border line. The Texas rate o
taxation is cent gallon, and In or
der not to drive the Texarkana Ark
dealers out of business, they are per
mitted to pay only l cent tax TO com
pete with Texas prices. II Is estimat
ed that the gas tax will yield $1,000,
900 the first year, and the oil tai
$25O,00O, with yearly increases.
Automobile license tags are increas
ed from an average Of $l2 to an aver
age of $40. The fee for passenge
cars is u 1-2 Cents per horsepower plu
80 cents per 100 pounds, based on tn
gross weight of the vehicle and IL
rated load. Truck tags range iron
$25 for One-ton vehicles to 800 70
six tons. Work on the new tax rat
schedules will begin at once
II Is not intended that the tax shal
he levied on oil and gas used for In
dustrial, agricultural or domestic pur
poses, and for this reason fund o
$150,000 is set aside to be used to re
fund the tax paid by the purchase
of fuel not used for motor vehicles.
After a hard fight against Hous
opposition, the emergency clause wa
added to the act which makes 1t TAX
effect at once. However, its aetna
opperation, including the new gas, oi
and motor rates. do not begin unit
January /. 1924.