Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-03-04

TIE recent decision. Of the Illinois supreme court,
4eting on a petition Of the Chicago Motor Club, IN
which the court held that the 2-cent gasoline tax
which went into effect in that state in August, 1927. is
qnconstitutional, apparently has halted any road pre-
gram the state may Be contemplating The court held
DAT the gasoline tax conflicts with the fourteenth
amendment-which guarantees "due process" and
@equsl protection" and that it il discriminatory.
One Of the peculiar features Of this peculiar de-
cision Is that the court also asserts that the gasoline
tax constitutes double taxation for the automobile own
or who is also required BY state law to pay . license
fee based npon the horsepower Of his vehicle Ac-
aordine 10 this decision there is not 9 constitutional
gasoline tax in existence as every state requires =
license fee. Fortunately. the courts Of other states
have had q clearer vision Of what constitutes double
taxation.
What the average automobile owner Of the country
cannot understand Is what possible cause the Chicago
Motor Club had for bringing the injunction suit It Is
true that Chicago is addicted to freak ideas and to
policies not understandable to the rest Of the United
states. but the Motor Club has capped the climax by
bringing ACTON to enjoin the collection Of a tax de-
signed for the sole purpose Of improving conditions for
motorists. Possibly, members Of the club do most Of
their motoring in the city Of Chicago and are not great
IL interested in the construction OF a system OF state
highways designed to make Chicago the highway cen
ter for the Middle West as the railroad corporations
made it the RAILROAD center.
As a rule the automobile associations and motor
clubs are the first to advocate, a gasoline tax or an
incasase in the existing gasoline tax rate. They are
actsated BY the knowledge that every dollar derived
xrost the gasoline tax and devoted 70 highway construe-
ticn means q reduction in motor vehicle operation COSTS
and q corresponding decrease in the cost Of motor
transportation. They realize that the gasoline tax i
tho most equitable that could be devised to finance
highway constructions; that the burden i placed ex-
sctIy where 1t belonss-upon the vehicles using the
highways.
Chicago owes its position as the second city q the
United States to the fact that it j. the head Of lake
naviration and the greatest railroad center In the
world. Radical changes in transportation are now I'M
der way. Motorized transportation probably will never
replace rails and ships. but Chicago may awaken some
day 10 find that a more progressive rival has secured
distinct advantages in that huge trade territory Chica-
20 now regards as the property Of les wholesale houses
and industries.
There is only one construction to be placed upon
the action Of the Chicago Motor ciub-that its members
sefnsed to accept a tax to aid in building up the high
way systems for the territory the city serves. This Is
a narrow, provincial view. and will result in the city
losing through business channels far more than the
rtste would ever collect through . two-cent tax upon
ahe gasoline.