, 1925-02-14
HOUSE SESSION
LASTS THROUGH
DINNER HOUR IN
LIVELY DEBATE
Two and a Half Cent
Gasoline Tax Is Now
Expected in Final
Approval Of Measure.

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Feb.
14.-(Special to The Trib-
u~ne. )-Wyoming will not
have a state reserve bank.
The majority of the senate
decided that late Friday
afternoon when. Ii strong. they
voted against Senate SO. the sibley.
Mercer-IIartwell measure providing
Tor such n bank. with an initial can
ital of $780, 900 to be raised bv saIa
OF the banks bonds to tho state OF
wyoming. Thirteen senators. one
Tess than the constitutional maturity
voted for the bill. The defeat OF Sen.
ate 80 makes Senate los, also intro.
dueed by ibley-Mercer.Hartwell. a
completely useless bill. It authorizes
Investment of state permanent
school funds In bonds Of the state
Reserve" bank.
The committee or tho whole hons.
decreed late Friday. after n deha,.
tnat carried the session beyond tho
supper hour. that II Wyoming mo-
florists are to pay n gasoline sales
lax II shall he q tax OF 21h cents per
gallon. The committee amended
House 10, the highway departments
gasoline tax bill. by reducing the pro.
posed tax from 3 cents a gallon to
IN cents. The bill was further
amended by deletion OF its
cation to the highway department
10 use 10 per cent of the proceed,
from the gasoline tax for admins.
trative expenses and 10 per cent for
the maintenance and purchase Of
equipment. Tho bill as II now /.
provides that the entire proceeds
from the tax shall be devoted to
highway maintenance. An effort IN
write into the bill a provision that
every retail dealer in gasoline should
display at his place of business
sign stating the Of the rtate
tax. and providing a penalty OF fine
Tor failure to do so, was defeated
The bill now contains the innocuou,
provision that n dealer may" dis
play such n sign. AS amended. tn,
bill was pproved for passage.
Consideration OF HOUSE. 10 in.
VOWED much discussion and some
resounding rntory. Rep+esenta.
tives Harris. Alcorn. Mccullough
and Underwood spoke In suoport a,
the bill, Harris and Underwood n.
Illustrating their arguments with .
large map of the state highway avs.
tenn. Representative Pagan opposed
the measure and made the Hall OF.
representatives. reverberat with bi,
dnunciation Of the proposed tax ana
his criticism OF the State Highway
department.
Representative Austin offered an
amendment providing that one.thIrd
or the amount raised from the tar
should 70 TO tho counties for nppll.
cation 10 their roads and bridge,
funds. Representative Mann sup-
ported the Austin amendment and
criticised tho Highway department.
Tor what he said was excessive over.
mead. The amendment was reject.
ed.
Representative Jackley. opposing
inc amendment commanding that no.
tail dealers display signs stating til,
amount OF state tax. charged that II
was the result OF a compromise be-
tween the Highway department and
the gasoline producers.
Representative Pagan. pointing 10
a time when oil royalty income viii
decrease. and to n later period when
It VIII cease, asserted that the con-
struetion program OF the Highway
department was so SO that
larger counties would receive the
benefit OF construction financed by
the royalty Income but that smaller
counties might be left in the Iurrh
through exhaustion Of this source
Of Income before the construction
programs mapped out for them
would be completed. Tho Highway
department, he charged. had pre.
dioted its budget on expenditure OF
sssO,0OO In excess OF its estimated
income during the next two years.
He argued that the department.
Should not be authorized to exceed
It's estimated Income and that main.
tenance expenses should be met
from this income and not by a tax
on gasoline users. The highway de.
partment, he said. has spent sls..
100000 In four years and contem-
plated expenditures that Il estimated
would bring Its total to sio, 600. 900.
But, he asserted. the total before
the program was completed nroh.
ably would be found to be not $40
600. 600, but s45 .00o.o 900. Tho con-
Continucd al, Pace c,x