Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-17
TAX ON BILLDOARDS.
in MARYLAND SEEN.
Miss Lavinia EngIe, House
Member, Confident LegiSIa-
ture Win Order Levy.

Confidence that q law levying a tax
on billboardS in Maryland will be
passed at the present session of the
Legislature, was expressed by Miss
Lavinia Engle. member Of the House
Of Delegates from Montgomery County,
yesterday at q joint meeting of the
Montgomery and Prince Georges
League of Women Voters in the club
house of the American Association of
University Women, 1884 I street.
Such an act Is being prepared by
ested organizations and will be intro
duced by Miss Engle, who said the
draft will be completed within the next
two weeks.
The law to stand the test Of the
courts must be for the purpose of tax
alton and control rather than confis-
catory, Miss Engle pointed out, and
because of this, extreme care must be
exercised in its drafting.
Billboard Lobby Cited.
The billboard interests have one of
the best organized and financed Hobbies
in the State, the speaker declared, and
even now are making a desperate fght
in the Legislature, but despite their
efforts, hackers of the measure conf
IDENTIFY expect the measure to pass.
"A bill taxing bilboards was intro
duced in the Legislature two years ago,
but was lost" Miss Engle asserted.
Since then" she continued, support
of the movement has grown by leaps
and bounds until now there Is a long
list of organizations back Of 1t. the
latest recruit being the Southern Mary
land Association.
Traffic Hazards in BilIbOards.
Iafa hill
boards create a real traffic hazard by
distracting the attention Of the motor
list from the highway. There Is one
aspect of the question which we often
disregard and thata is the tremendous
financial responsibility of taking care
of accident cases In our State and coun-
ty hospitals, and billboards certainly
contribute to accidents.
"You pay large sums of money In
taxes for the construction and main
tenance of hard-surfaced roads through
out the State, while the billboard in
terests pay practically nothing. Yet the
billboard companies are capitalizing on
your expenditure for roads, since their
signs would be of no value If not 10
Gated alongside State highway.
1T is for this reason that we are
entirely justified in taxing them and
making them pay their just share.
Would Protect Capital Approaches.
THE movement against signs should
not apply only to the approaches to the
period of the George Washington BIZ
centennial Celebration, but should be
Statewide and permanent Elimination
Of signs only along the immediate ap-
proaches to Washington would have the
effect of concentrating them in other
portions of the State, while appeals to
advertisers to take down their signs for
the period of the bicentiennial could be
used as an argument against legisla-
ton"
Miss Engle also discussed proposed
legislation for establishment of two
State aims houses and Juvenile courts.
She told of the work of the two COM
missions appointed by Gov. Albert c.
Ritchie to study the adviSability of two
aims house, one on the Eastern and
one on the Western Shore. These aims
house would be better fitted to care for
cases requiring medical treatment than
would county institutions, she said.
Juvenile Court Bill Proposed.
A State wide jevenile court bill is to
be introduced at the present legisla-
tive session, Miss Engle declared, ex
planning that it is needed as a cog In
the comprehensive program for the pre-
ventlon of juvenile delinquency.
Mrs. Green of the Connecticut League
of Woman Voters urged women present
at the meeting yesterday to seek the
recommittal of the Kelly-Capper retail
price fixing bill now before Congress
to the Committee on Interstate Com
merce. She condemned the measure as
vicious, urging that it would result IN
a general increase in prices Of most
manufactured articles.
It was decided to hold the next joint
meeting of the Montgomery and Prince
Georges Leagues two weeks from yes
terday at Silver Spring, Nd, when DR..
Carrie Weaver Smith, superintendent Of
the Montrose School for Delinquent
Girls, will speak.