, 1935-06-02
High Gasoline
Taxes Assaied
By Oil Officer

DALLAS, June !. IF gasoline
taxes should increase only one
tenth as rapidly In the next Is
years as they have since 1919, each
motor car would pay $4,000 a year
in gasoline taxes Is years hence"
Fred M. Lege, Jr., vice president in
charge OF marketing for the Mag
nolia Petroleum company, said In
discussing the need for reduction
Of gasoline taxes. "In 1888 the
average American paid $3.50 in
taxes exclusive Of automobile taxes,
while motorists paid $99.97 on an
average, nearly twice rs much. Be-
cause the tax Is paid on a few gal
Ions at a time. when purchased, the
average motorist does not realize
the unreasonable proportions
which the tax has reached. Last
year the average gasoline tax In
the United States was approxim-
ately 5.4 cents a gallon"
The gasoline tax Is scarcely more
than Is years old. Mr.. Lege pointed
out. After the war. the clamor for
good roads became insistent and
Oregon levied a one cent tax on
gasoline for highway construction
and maintenance. Within ten years
all states had adopted the tax.
There was little opposition TO the
gasoline tax at first because II
seemed logical that users of high
ways should pay for them. Reduc-
tons In the price Of gasoline, made
possible by improved refining meth
DDS and more efficient operation.
offset tax increases. Then the orr
ginal purpose Of the tax was for
gotten and highway funds were
diverted for all sorts OF expendi-
lures. on July l.. 1892. a federal
gasoline tax became effective as ar
emergency tax. In some states
cites and counties began to demand
their share Of the motorists money
as well. BY the end Of 1884. the
amount collected in gasoline taxes
had increased from one million dol
lars the first year Of its existence
to 700 million dollars In spite OF
the fuel bootlegged. free OF taxes.
Because the retail purchaser
} pays the tax along with the pur-
chase price. few motorists stop &c
think that they r paying from Sc
to 100 per cent tax on each gallon.
Mr.. Lege said. Since 1919, the re-
tail price of gasoline has decreas-
ed about so per cent while the
average tax per gallon has In
creased several thousand per cent
No other generally used. eSsentia.
commodity is taxed as heavily a.
is gasoline"
"All Americans. whether they
drive automobiles or not. have q
four-fold interest in gasoline tax
alton. First, labor suffers from
wage cuts and lay-offs whenever
high taxes. by encouraging ta1
evasion, make legitimate oil oper'
atoms Improbable. Second, at
tempts TO evade high gasoline tax
es encourage a diSrespect for al
laws. Third. the livelihood Of mil
lions Of workers depends on the
prosperity Of the automobile in
dUstry, yet II gasoline taxes In
crease even one-tenth as rapidly
as they have in the past, the ruiz
Of our great motor car industry 1:
surely in sight.
Finally. the public as well a:
the motorist has an interest ir
seeing that gasoline funds are not
diverted from the highways. MOI
only Is our ten billion dollar in
veStment in highways one Of oul
greatest national assets by making
communication and transportation
rapid. convenient and economical
but every dollar withdrawn from
highway constructor and mainten-
ance means less employment FOL
road labor. less purchasing power
in the hands Of the workers"