Evening star., 1932-04-10
BY w. r. SMITH,


President OF the American Road Builders
Association.
Motor vehicle taxes that have to do
with the use of such vehicles were
! imposed at the very beginning for
the purpose of improving the roads
and streets over which motor vehicles
operate. Such highway improvement
reduces the operating costs of motor
vehicles to the extent that the annual
saving due to surfaced roads more than
| equals the cost Of maintaining the
highways and the capital investment in
new improved roads built outside Of
cities.
Dependent on Roads.
Motor vehicles are dependent for
of good roads. In addition, no other
medium of transportation has been
developed that does not depend on
| highways for its operation. Water
ways serve those on the shores, rail-
roads aid people at sidings along the
route, strplanes reach only their land
| ing fields Improved highways fully
| equipped with motor vehicles connect
passenger and freight stations mac
cessible without them. From the raw
material to the manufacturer, to the
! distributor to the retailer, to the con-
sumer. the highway plays an indis-
pensable part.
New industries and more widespread
use of commodities developed as a
result of highway improvement have
increased tremendously the business OF
other transportation agencies. The
highways have persisted and grown In
! importance because of the service
rendered to the public and their use
| fulness has been multiplied many
fold through the development of motor
vehicles.
Original Use.
The gasoline tax was originally de-
signed to be used only for the improve
ment Of highways upon which motor
vehicles are dependent. License fees,
! distinctly charges for the use of the
! public highways. have always been de-
voted to highway purposes. Through
| the development Of THESE use taxes,
which some claim might better be
designated as road tolls, the cost of
building country roads has been trans
ferred almost entirely from real estate
| to motor vehicles. owners of motor
vehicles, who in general have sug-
! have not objected to them, are COM
pensated in the decreased cost Of op-
Grafton on good roads. These taxes
are true measure of the benefit each
taxpayer receives from the use Of high
ways. They apply locally to vehicles
! from other States The use taxes on
motor vehicles are said by experts on
taxation to be the fairest and most
nearly perfect form Of tax that exists
in the United States today when the
| proceeds are applied to highways
The gasoline tax and motor vehicle
fees return more than a billion dollars
for highways in States, counties and
cities. This is the major part of the cost
| Of country roads. Real estate now pays
scarcely third Of the road costs. High
! way programs have become stable so
that roads are being built in an eco
nomical and systematic way with fu-
ture Improvements planned to meet the
| growing highway traf1c needs, should
road improvement ever succeed in
catching up with the new develop
ments and rapid growth in number Of
motor vehicles.
Building Hardly Begun.
1t has been suggested that our road
| systems are rapidly reaching compile
| ton. On the contrary, the task of build
ing the highways of the United States
! hardly Is begun. There are 5000 900
miles Of country roads, of which 700,-
| 900 miles have been improved in vary
| ing degrees, but only $4,000 miles
hard-Surfaced. There are $500 900 miles
/ of highways that are still mud roads
and subject to the mud roads tax
paid by the motor vehicle owners in the
form Of higher operating costs, in
creased depreciation and greater upkeep
expense. I'VE pay for our roads whether
| we have them or not Is held to be
automatic by careful students of high
way economics
At the resent rate OF construction
of State road systems, reconstruction
of the systems will be upon us before
the State highways are completed.
There are 10l 900 miles of primitive
unimproved roads included in the 324,-
900 miles Of the combined Federal aid
and State highway systems, and only
small part of the Federal aid system
has been improved with high type sur
faces In cities, streets must be widened
and arterial highways constructed to
permit vehicles to operate economically.
In rural areas, byways must be surfaced
for motor vehicle travel roads widened
and safety of traff1c at high speed in
sured by adequate highways. All this
work to keep up with new vehicle de-
velopments is in addition to the i'm
provement OF the $500 900 miles of
highway that are still primitive roads.
Result Of Raids.
Suggested raids on the funds pro-
posed, legislated, and paid by motorists
seek 10 divert to purposes other than
| the 0ofaekr1icti6a and nnairtana yseA AZ