Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

~ nee again Americas giganti
automobile fleet is adorned
with shiny new license plate!
~ issued under a wide variety
Of systems which involve {
series of mathematical formulate thai
compel the awe if not the admiration
or the motorist who is asked to dc
problems that often transcend his
arithmetical knowledge
f. glance at the varied methods EN-
p1oyed by the As States in the issuance
of tags reveals clearly that there is ne
accord as to the proper method OF
computing taxes. A majority uses
the horsepower basis. Next comes
weight. Then. there are combinations
of the two. Valuation is utilized in
several States. Three States and the
District of Columbia levy fiat rate
Out of all this, however, one thing
is evident. The horsepower basis,
condemned by many observers as un-
sound, is losing ground. Computation
of tag costs on the weight of the car
is gaining In 1926, % States taxed
by horsepower. This year that num-
Der was reduced by three.
Pros and Cons Discussed.
The pros and cons of all these bases
AI dulOIlODlIH ldAdijOIl are iflleISSllIlS.
Take the horsepower method, for in
stance. It's opponents-and they are
becoming more numerous yearly
insist that it is unfair in that it con-
Germs itself not at all with the wear
and tear on the highways, because a
car may have a low horsepower rating
and still have great weight. Horse
power, as such, does not have any
effect on the highway, it is argued.
Weight does.
One small passenger car weighing
1870 pounds has a horsepower rating
of %. 1t is a two-passenger roadster
and, loaded, scarcely ever would eX-
ceed 2,100 pounds in highway weight.
Take another highly popular car, one
that is seen in great numbers on al
most every highway. 1t weighs about
$500 pounds and can carry at Least
500 pounds of human weight with
comfort. Thus, so loaded, it represents
a highway weight of $500 pounds.
Its s. A Il. horsepower rating is
slightly above II. This set of figures
IS offered with conviction by the Oh
ponents of the horsepower system.
1t prevails in similar effect, up and
down the entire list of cars.
They do not stop here, however. II
horsepower is the simplest and best
way TO tax, why are there so many
ways of computing horsepower, they
ask? How can a car have a horse
power rating in one place that may
be higher or lower than in another?
If States insist upon using this
method, why not make it utterly
simple by computing the cost of
licenses on the horsepower rating of
either the National Automobile
Chamber of Commerce or the Society
of Automotive Engineers?
Different Methods Used.
To support the contention that
States employ vastly different mathe-
NAUTICAL formulate in arriving at the
horsepower rating of a car, they cite
the fact that Pennsylvania motorists
are forced to square the diameter o.
the bore, and to multiply the product
first by the number of cylinders and
then by four-tenths. Ohio uses THE
formula most common in engineering
circles-square the diameter of the
cylinder, measured in inches, multiply
by the number of cylinders and divide
the product by two and one-half
Massachusetts uses this system:
Bore squared times stroke times num-
Der of cylinders divided by 10.
The weight system is far, far sim
pier, its proponents say. 1t does noe
have the deficiency of taxing a car on
the basis of 20 horsepower when it
actually will reach brake power of
20 or more, the argument goes.
This meets with an emphatic denial |
from the horsepower advocates. What |