San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-10-25
URGES REPEAL
! Of WAR-T|N
CAR TAX
Stewart Macdonald Says
Boost Business by
Cutting Excise"

That the elimination Of the auto
mobile excise taxes will prove a
tremendous impetus TO all lines of
business, industry and farming is the
opinion of Stewart Macdonald. prcsi-
dent of the Moon Motor Car com
pany. who in recent statement urg-
ing everyone connected with the mo-
tor car industry, as well as automo-
bile owners, TO work for the repeal
Of the excise tax, said:
The excise tax on automobiles was
passed as war time measure and
was intended TO apply 10 Injuries
only.
ANY thinking man or woman
knows that the automobile cannot he
classed, by any stretch of the imagin-
alton. as a luxury. 1t graduated out
of the luxury class and into the
necessity class years sgo. as automo-
tive history is rcckoned.
NOT A LUXURY.
-Then why should the motor car
be taxed as luxury when it is not
only necessity but on the other hand
is a vital factor in business. industry
and farming and is 80 bound up with
the three that were they suddenly
confronted with the necessity Of do
ing entirely without the automobile
for one day, or even one hour, the
result would be chaos. nothing less.
AUTOMOBILES have done more in
the past - years toward the upbuild-
ing of this great country of ours
than has any one single industry. Our
great highways which now comprise |
veritable network of fine, paved !
roads over almost the entire country |
are due entirely 10 the automobile. |
BURDEN OWNER.
@And yet, in the face of this very |
evident fact, the automobile industry |
and what is worse the consumer or |
the owner. are burdened with an ex- |
else tax that is both unjust and I'M
fair. Under the excise tax the au
tomobiie is taxed just as if it were
some Insignificant luxury instead of
the great means Of modern trans
portation that it is.
There are numerous lines Of mer
chandise. not now being taxed, that
are purely luxuries, things that while |
their use doubtless adds TO the pleas
ure of human beings, are still not
necessities in any sense of the word. |
Obviously when such Injuries 90 tax
free and a heavy excise tax is i'm
posed on such vital necessity as an
automobile, there is something radical
~ wrong with our system Of taxa
tion.
$50 TO 4 CAR.
81 e. -
tax has been removed from many COM
modities the purchaser of an auto
mobile today is HuyiDg an average
tax of 500 on every new car he buys /
and according TO Charles c. james,
secretary of the 4. a. A, the govern |
ment collected $124.000O0O in 1924 |
from this tax alone, the motorists |
paying IS per cent Of the total col /
lection by the federal government
from all of the war excise taxes /
which are still in force. Today the
automobile is one of the most heav-
lily taxed articles on the entire list.
it being taxed by both the state ana
the city as personal property while
the gasoline, without which the au-
tomobile could not function, at least
at this time. is also taxed
SUFFICIENTLY TAXED.
ut would seem that the motor car
Is sufficiently taxed TO warrant the
complete elimination Of the war OK
else tax, particularly when the bur
den falls heaviest on the consumer or
the purchaser Of a new automobile.
~The A. A. and the \. A. d. A.
are both doing good work in urging
their members 10 have their clients roe
their congressman in regard to hav-
ing the excise tax on automobiles re
pealed but in the final analysis the |
elimination Of this tax is up TO the
American motorists themselves who |
must get into action and work untir- |
ingly TO get the desired result. Every |
automobile manufacturer. distributor. |
dealer and sub-dealer should unite In /
a strong, concerted movement TO get |
this wartime excise tax eliminated |
at the next session Of Congress"