The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1931-03-13
STATE AUTOMOBILE INDEMNITY
INSJRA NCE

"A Az AONAODlLE4
INSURANCE
Over at Shelby lives an attorney who is devot
ihg his life and energies to the enactment of leg
iSlatiOn providing for a state automobile liabt
Insurance fund, state administered, for the pull
rose of paying the heirs of those killed in auto
mobile accidents, and caring for and paying thos
injured
The mans name is Jesse H. Stevens
For the past four years he has proposed severe
schemes for the creation of this fund an
has had several measures introduced in the legis
lature, all of which have been defeated by activi
ties of accident insurance companies and by thos
who wanted money raised for other purposes o
those who do not want to raise taxes especiall
Tor the purpose of protecting the ordinary citizen
Stevens has proposed that ever driver be Ii
'censed and the money put in a fund to protec
victims. he has proposed using car license fee
Tor this purpose and other methods, vainly Blu
Stevens has not become discouraged-he had DO
killed in an automobile accident-and has main
tanned propaganda with the persistence of on
inspired
The Producers News received a circular lette
yesterday from Stevens anent the state highwa
appropriations, the debenture referendum, gas AM
motor fuel tax, road bond issues, etc., and anothe
aHce, which is interesting. It follows:
The Present Legislature Has Appropriated
$950O,OOO FOR STATE HIGHWAYS
All of the SC gasoline tax under H. B. 45O
Tor ten long years-until you are ten years
Older-goes to the building of state high
ways for our gypsy tourists.
Not one cent Of the &c gasoline tax for
TEN LONG YEARS will go to make bet
ter county roads giving employment to To-
cal labor III Sc counties, tending to build up
DC county seats and other cities, building up
their business houses and helping to reduce
county tax burdens. Yet our Sc counties
had total delinquent tax list on June 30
1880 of 11,S3254337 and our counties are
almost broke.
Not One Cent of the cent gas tax for
TEN LONG YEARS-until you are ten
years older will go to making or repair
ing city streets, giving local labor employ
ment, reducing city taxes for maintenance
of streets, etc., although very great part
OF the gasoline tax is paid by city people
Yet cities are broke
Worse Still, NOT ONE CENT of this &c
gasoline tax for TEN LONG YEARS will 90
to repair the damage done to human beings
injured or killed by automobiles although
probably in the next ten years there will be
1000 persons killed and 5000 persons in
jured by automobiles in Montana - many
with broken backs, fractured skulls, crush
ed chests, broken limbs and internal injur-
1es, from which they will suffer the rest
OF their lives. Since the preceding legis-
lature convened there have been 233 per
sons killed and about 5000 persons injurer-
ed by automobiles in Montana
LET US DIVIDE THIS SC GASOLINE
TAX AS FOLLOWS.
Three cents FOR STATE HIGHWAYS
In Initiative Measure No. 81, the people vot-
ed only &c gasoline tax for state highways
Two years ago the highway enthusiasts"
miseld the legislature by asking an increase
90 &c for only four yers. Now they want to
boost it for ten long years more And the
next plan is big highway refunding bond
issue.
One cent for COUNTY ROADS. Authorize
the County Commissioners to levy lie tax
for County roads. Our people use County
roads more
One cent for CITY STREETS. Authorize
the City Council to levy lie tax for city
streets, and city general fund Our people
use city streets more.
Let US reduce the registration fee for mo-
Sor Vemcles TO $foO and put the proceeds
into state automobile fund to indemnify
those injured by automobiles, as provided in
H. B. 189, recently defeated in the house.
Our present registration fee law is as full
of holes as the anticipation gasoline war
rant" law was.
If a state cannot, or will not, protect its
people from injuries by automobiles, it
should not spend almost five million dollars
year for gypsy tourists-it should not col
lect $40 registration fees from automobiles
and permit them to go out and kill or in
jure people.
H. B. 1S9 should be passed by this legis-
aature, or special session should be called
by Governor Erickson for that purpose.
JESSE H. STEVENS
(Ths expense of this circular is paid by