Evening star., 1925-09-18

| ticles on the condition of Woshino-
tons streets The sirtb ,oiU appear
on Sunday.
| just as many OF our main thorough
fares OF trafic-outis we'd by age
! were brea king to bits under the in
creasingly heavy loads they were
never built 10 carry the gasoline tax
came to the rescue. In consequence.
! during the last year or 1s months
! there has been great improvement.
(, with about 90 of the important traf-
| nc highways resurfaced. thanks to
this special fund. The good work will
| continue on an annually enlars
scale
Her. are specific illustrations:
Under the returns for the fiscs year
1928
Wisconsin avenue. from Massach,i
sefts avenue TO the River road. so
feet wide and 5000 feet In length.
Central avenue, from Rennine road
to the District line. over q mile in
length
Forty-frst street northwest from
Davenport to Livingston street, about
1000 feet.
Georgia avenue. from Military road.
past Walter Reed Hospital more than
5000 feet
Bladensburg road, from South Da-
30
feet
Seventeenth street from Penn.ylva.
MIA avenue TO G. street south $500
feet.
Fourteenth street from c north to z
south.
Eleventh street southeast from
Pennsylvs MIA avenue 10 the Eastern
Branch.
1926 improvements.
Under returns for the fiscal year
1925:
NJ street. Georsetown. from Twenty.
ninth 70 Thirty.htth street. widened
and rersved, $500 feet. This is one
of the hest street surfscine iohs ever
done in rhs Capital. II gives an ad-
eduate and proper approach 10 the
new Key Bridge. Engineers figure II
will serve for 30 wears
Bladensburg road, from n street to
j. street. wIdened and repayed which
will complete an Sn.foot roadway i'm
provement from end TO end Of this
street, from Fl street 10 the DISTRICT
line.
North Capitol. from street to
Michigan avenue, to he finished this
Fan.
. street. from Thirtieth street tn
Wisconsin avenue.
r street from Thirtieth 10 Wiscon.
y street. from Fifth to Seventh
northwest.
Eighth street, from Market Space TO
r. street
Georgia avenue. from Florida ave
nne to Barry place. This Is in front
Of the ba park and viii be done fier
the world series.
Thirteenth street in various Ioca-
tions are TO be blanketed with asphalt
m A<-tc fr~ oil zsYA
and concrete roadwars. This is In
pros ress and will he completed in
about two months.
One OF the biggest Improvements
500 900 jobs The widening of F.
street northwest from Fifth TO Thir.
teenth street. This Is TO he done in
the Spring
Tax Law Passed In 1924.
The gasoline tax is collected under
Law Of April %. s2A. with the titl.
TO provide for TAX on motor vehicle
fuels sold within the District of CO.
iumbia. The law imposes tax Of
cents per gallon on IL gasoline sold
Tor use in motor vehicles and pro-
vides in the first para gra ph that the
proceeds shall he p3id into the
Treasury OF the United States to the
credit OF the District Of Columbia
and shall he svaila BILE for appropri-
alton by Congress exclusively for
road and street Improvements and
repair
Most Of the States have ga soline
tax. some OF them at higher rates
even ur To cents per gallon; but
In a good many States this tax rs
diverted from streets and roads and
used for all kinds OF purposes. In
passing the law for the National Can
ital Congress decided that this was
not square deal towards the special
| interests paying the tax since the
real argument for imposing the tax
was that the motor tra affic was wear
ink out existing highways and that
the motorists should pay fair pro-
portion toward maintaining the roads
in proper condition for motor ira flc.
Represents tive Louis c. Cramton of
Michigan. who drafted the gasoline
tax law. and Congress in passing It,
definitely meant that the funds
should so exclusively for the only
iustifiab BILE purpose In imposing the
tax-to keep the roads in proper
aha pc for motor travel
Main Streets Treated First.
In selecting the items of improve
ment under this Gasoline tax. the
District Commissioners and CpnsrAss
have decided that ira ffic thorough
fares should receive first attention.
ra ther than streets of minor traffc
needs. for the manifest rea son that
the tax is paid by the whole body ot
motorists and Ia more IA tionAlly ap-
plicable on thoroughfares that are
generally nsed by the majority,
rather than on those streets which
are used by only relatively few auto
lists.
IL
gasoline tax fund has been available
for eff active use-a little over a year
ma l'ked betterment has resulted in
the eneral traffic condition by i'm
prove n1ent Of roadway surfaces. In
the future this improvement will be
very much empha sised because the
funds will he larger and will come in
regularly.
The gasoline tax is collected through
the wholesalers. who make monthly
returns to the collector of taxes of
their sales and then pay the tax Of
cents per gallon on those sales
The collection is thus easily made
and al minimum OF cost The col
lector OF taxes makes monthly re-
port to the District auditor who sets
mp the fund to the credit OF the high
way department. which then-and not
until then-can spend the money SO.
IL is eNlueUi tHdt tHeTe must De 0e-
lay in this work until the fund ac-
cumulates in dribs and drabs, month
after month.
Collections Under Estimate.
On June Z, 1924. Congress sppro-
priated7 for the fiscal year 1925. which
began the following July ]. for IA
items OF street improvement aggre-
eating 1925 900. which total was as
sumed to he the revenue expected
durfpr that VAR from thA eocoli,,a