Evening star., 1925-11-22
ROAD TAXES PAID BY ALL
SEEN In TREND OF OPINION
Distribution of Burden Among All Glasses
as They Benefit by Motors Is lndi-
Gated by Passing Levies Along.

Hotels which formerly depended upon
a small clientele which arrived via
rail or Dohbin now thrive on the auto
tourist business which comes tn them
in many parts of the country-all
the year round.
The very automobile business itself
from the drawing Of steel for chassis
down ia the small town dealer who
dispenSeS spark plugs and gas, has fur
nished work for thousands and has
thus benefited the country in general.
But in spite of all this the method
of taxation is still such that the men
who are progressive enough TO invest
their money in cars must assume the
great bulk of the cost of road build
ing and maintenance. Isn't it about
time To ask the non-motoriSt to pay
for what he enjoys?
Cost Passed Along.
We are told that he would never
stand for il and that the custom of
soaking the car owner will con-
tinue indefinitely. but it is reasonable
TO believe that the change Will come
about quicker than we suppose and
perhaps in a very unspectacular way.
For instance, millions of American
people are contributing to the cost
of road building in the prices which
they pay for food. lothinS and special
ties where the motor truck or the
business car enters into the trans
portation or sale of the products.
Every business firm passes the cost of
ills automobile license fees along to
the consumer.
This hits the average car owner
a double blow because it makes him
both direct and an indirect tax
payer. Rut the salient point is that
the man who doesn't own a car is
indirectly making contribution
which includes n pYramiding of tax
alton. As in all indirect methods of
taxation a large percentage of the
proceeds never reaches the point
where it is available for road building.
Such indirect taxat tion is both waste
full snd unfair. II more of the money
which non-motorists pay Indirectly
could he applied directly to the trea-
suries of the highway departments,
car owners would not need to pay
such high automobile license fees. In
some instances il is probably costing
the non -motoriSt more under existing
conditions than ii would be to pay
his share OF road maintenance directly.
The way matters stand both pa rites
have their troubles. with the average
car owner getting the worse end of
II because, not using his car for com
mercial purposes, he is unable TO pass
the burden of double taxation along to
some one else.
L. s. Aiding Programs.
There is another fact 10 support
the theory that direct taxation will
be revised so az to include the man
who desn't use car but who bene
fits by automohiling. This is the
Federal aid which is being given the
various departments of the United
States in their road building programs.
When the excise tax on new cars is
greatly lowered or eliminated we will
have an excellent instance of where
the people who don't own cars help
pay through the income tax and other
governmental sources of revenue) for
the highways.
The time is not far distant, many be-
lieve, when all citizens of states or
provinces-whether they own cars or
not-will contribute by direct tax to
the maintenance of the American
highways system. which so obviously
benefits every one. Each increase in
automobile license fees focuses atten-
ton on the subject and tends TO has
ten this trend.
Copyright 1925.)