The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-04-27
LAWS TO STOP
 CAR THEFTURGED
Various States Have En- acted Certificate Of. sp Title Laws

'i wASHINGTON.--Ifs placed in a
 single, line, the automobiles stolen in the United States during 1922 would have extended from New York to Wash ingtDn. Automobile thefts in.- the 4 United States have assumed alarming proportions coincident with the rapid increase in motor vehicle registration during the past few years.- Today there is one automobile in this country for every, eight, persons. The insurance advisory cornmittes of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. recently completed a detailed investigation of the automobile theft situation. Its find i19sa and recommendations are incor; porated in report which will, be con sidered by the membership of the. na- tional chamber at its annual meeting in Cleveland next month.
 The enactment of certification of au- toinobile title Jaws by the. various states is recomme&ded by. the commit tee as an important means of decfeas- ing auto thefts. Fifteen states have adopted this type of legislation since 1919, when the first title law was passed in Virginia. Other states which have adopted similar laws since that time, are Colorado, Maryland, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Utah, Ala. bama. Y California. Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wy oming. The legislatures of several other states are considering the matter
 The, chief feature ~of automobile title laws, according to the committees re- port, is that the burden of proof. re- garding ownership is placed upon the possessor of an automobile. In order to register his car for license, the own CT must first obtain title certificate which will show his right to, possess the automobile. In the event he sells the machine, cthe title is assigned and the new certificate recorded by the state. In this respect there is a de- cided similarly between such certifi- cates and deeds in. real estate. Both the deed and the automobile certificate are evidences of ownership and no le- gal transfer of property can be made without them. The report stresses the fact that person would not consider purchasing house or lot to which he could not secure title. Likewise, in states which have automobile title laws, man would not ordinarily buy an automobile without an accompanying certificate of title. :,
 sIncorporated in most of the laws nowi,in force are. provisions which tend to prevent the theft of cars, make more difficult the transfer of stolen ma chimes and assist in their recovery. Pen alties for violations of these provisions are included in all of the present laws. Some of these deal with attempts to own, operate, sell or purchase cars without certificates; of title. Others per * tain to actual thefts and alteration of Identification marks. Authority for eh- z forcement is usually. vested with the A secretary ,.of state. motor vehicle com missioner or other state, authoritys ; The value of uniform legislation of this nature in all states is readily apt Y parent. The < committee, therefore, \ urges that these laws be placed upon the statute books of all states. This ' legislation should be uniform in prin- a ciples. contain adequate provisions for N enforcement and penalties for viola