Evening star., 1941-08-21
Views Conflict
Al Tourist Bus
Tax Hearing
Spokesman Call
$500 Fee Unfair,
Favor Amendment

Conflicting views on how to
relieve the tax burden of out-of-
town tourist buses which visit Wash
ington occasionally, in view of the
District Court of Appeals recent
ruling that every such vehicle must
pay a license fee of $100, were ex-
pressed today at a Senate District
Subcommittee hearing.
Senator Burton. Republican, OF
Ohio, conducting the hearing, took
up House-approved bill exempting
from the license fee sightseeing
buses for outside points whose
operations here are only occa-
sional."
Corporation Counsel Richmond B.
Keech proposed an amendment,
suggested by the Commissioners,
restricting the exemption to buses
which spend not more than Is days
a year in the District. Mr.. Keech
contended that the bill as passed by
the House was too vague and the
15-day limitation would protect local
sightseeing bus interests from un-
fair competition by outside COM
panies not required to pay the tax.
Would Cover Holidays.
Mr.. Keech pointed out that IS
days would cover such peak tourist
seasons as Christmas, Easter and
Thanksgiving.
William H. Press. executive Secre-
tary of the Board of Trade, said the
organization was sympathetic to the
legislation. 1t felt, he explained,
that out-of-town concerns should be
allowed to conduct tours to Wash
tngton occasionally without the
heavy tax, and yet local operators
should not be penalized by undue
competition from tax-free buses.
The amendment, he said, seems to
us reasonable"
Doubt whether the 15-day limit
would be fair was expressed by John
F.. Seld, representing the National
Association of Bus Operators. He
explained that many buses operating
between other cities brought con-
vention delegates and other tourists
through Washington. These tour
lists, he said, often stopped in other
cities for sightseeing and were not
taxed by those municipalities, no
matter how frequent their visits.
Darr Favors Amendment.
The proposed legislation also was
regarded by Herbert E. Harper of
the Interstate Transportation Corp,
a New Jersey concern, as unjust to
out-of- town companies. Acclaiming
his business was confined almost en-
tirely to high school students, he
said the s100 fee would make such
trips prohibitively high. He sug-
geSted an amendment restricting
outside companies to five consecu-
tive days or 80 days in year with
out fee.
Seton Darr, attorney for the
Amalgamated Street Car and Mo-
tor Bus Employees of America, an
A. F. L. union, who appeared for the
Capital Transit Co. employees, said
he wanted to protect these workers
who we're in the sightseeing business
from the competition of tax-free
outside bus lines. He felt that the
Keech amendment was fair.
Would Burden Students.
William L. Bush, president, and
John A. Kaufman, attorney, for
Greylines Tours, Inc, a local COM
pany, said out-of-town concerns had
encroached on their business heavily
IN the last few years. They pointed
that April and May, when school
children come to Washington, we're
the busiest tourist months, and if
the outside companies took the
cream of the business during these
months there would be little left for
local bus lines.
L. r. Batcheler, a transportation
broker, said that since 1928 he had
made a business of selling Amer
lea" to students, including tours to
Washington, and he felt that this
business was his own and District
concerns were not entitled to it.
Any fee required of buses from
other cities would be passed along
TO the students, he said, and this
would prevent many of them from
yyirifiyoo THAR FOL