Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-28
A.A.A. ASKS BETTER.
LICENSE PLATES.
Standardized System of Auto
Licensing Also to Be
Demanded.

Charging that the original purpose
OF motor vehicle registration has
been forgotten in official eagerness
to tax car owners all they will stand,
the legislative board of the Amerl-
can Automobile Association yesterday
announced the completion OF plans
for waging fight for better auto
mobile license plates and a more
standardized system of licensing.
This information is contained in 4
bulletin sent to all affiliated clubs
throughout the country from the as
sociation's headquarters in this city.
This action is said to have been
FASTENED by discovery of counter
feiting in license tags in Ohio and
by a knowledge that in many States
the plates for 1925 will be fiimsier
than ever.
Commenting upon the Legislative
boards action, Thomas p Henry.
president, Of the a. \. A., declares
that the motor vehicle departments
and Legislators have lost sight Of the
vital principle of automobile regis
tration which is Identification, not
taxation.
Plates Wear Quickly.
This has gone so far in some
license Plates iaSs N sst the eaT
out, and are very nearly useless for
Identification purposes after they
have been six months on any car
that is used extensively through all
kinds OF weather.
One club member found that ona
OF his license plates had crack ed
across one corner and was bout to
reduce the plate by one complete
numeral He found that to replace
the plate with a new one would
entail an expense of So. in addition
TO what he had already paid for the
defectiTe one This is an expense
that the motor vehicle department.
should have been obliged by law to
stand.
suppose this owner had not been
so painstaking as to mend the
plate? Suppose he had run down
some one while the plate was dis
figured?
If the purpose of Identification is
not the sole feature of the auto
mobile license plate. then American
car owners have right to refuse to
use State markers. There is no law
that compels the taxpayer to hang a
state sign on his home. If the
license plate is merely receipt for
automobile taxes paid, the State has
no right to ask motorist to dis
inquire his car with these cheap,
poorly painted pieces of tin.
Plates Are Necessary.
The a. A. A believes that license
plates are a necessity so long az the
average motorist cannot be placed
on his own honor to report accidents
and collisions in which he is involved.
put unless the States Cooperate to
the extent of keeping the license
plate the public protection it was
intended to be, the whole picture
may be suddenly changed.
Motorists have stood for much
mat they have not had time to ques-
tion But the situation is changing
every day, and Will continue to
chanSe at an even greater rate as
car owners become better organized
and, accordingly. better able TO up-
hold their rights.
When license plates can be
counterfeited, when they do not en-
oooy devices to keep them from fall
ing off, and when they do not stav
Ieglble, 1t is high time that some
thing be done to right matters. The
NATION can tax the car owner. IL II
must, without taxing the puhIic's
creouIty IN the earnestness of the
present drive against lawlessness and
disorder.
The A. A. a. legislative board has
consistently opposed the plan of tax
ing motorists at the expense of
loentlncatton, and it's activities dur
ing the coming year will be no ex-
ception to the rule"