The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1952-10-17
Continued from page one)

Continued from page one)
gasoline sales tax in 1919 and ear
marked the revenue for road costs,
it was generally regarded as an in
fallible means of paying for high
ways as they were used. The guam
tity of motor fuel determined the dis
lance an automobile could travel +;
thus the gas pumped measured the
roads required. The gasoline tax
soon spread to every other state. 1t
worked, too, as a device for distrib-
uting the burden among people driv-
ing cars of approximately the same
size and weight. But it does not work
when one vehicle weighs 5000
pounds and another weighs 10000;
when one could practically fit in the
cab of the other.
In the first place, consumption of
motor fuel rarely rises in direct ratio
to an increase in tonnage. In the
second, the number of truck-and-
trailer trains has multiplied six or
seven times in some states in recent
years. Obviously the van which is
lowed pays no fuel tax, yet it pull
verizes the roads as it passes. And
tests in Oregon have showed that
the gasoline consumption of the tow
ing truck is not increased in any de-
gree proportionate to the weight of
the trailer. A truck-and-trailer gros-
sing 10000 pounds burns consider
ably less gasoline than two $4,000
pound trucks-a fact which, along
with the need for only one driver, ac-
counts for the popularity cf tandems
among truckers.
On top of all this, thousands of
trucks have changed to diesel power,
which operates more miles per gallon
of fuel than a gasoline engine of
identical rating. So, although the
diesel truck is just as capable of
cracking concrete and weakening
viaducts, it contributes less money
per mile through the classic road
financing conduit of the fuel tax. E.
Diesel or not, the big interstate
highway truckers have been having a
picnic.
After Analysing truckers income
during 1949, the New York State
Legislative Committee on Highways
and Canals reported that the large
motor carriers earned profits of
three cents on each ton-mile of
freight, contrasted with a return of
e.
of cargo carried one mile by the
states railroads.
One trucking firm operating in a
western state paid only $94,211 for
the use of highways which made pos
join in the fun, regardless of race,
creed or color. The cooperation be-
tween the union and the company in
promoting this event manifests the
ideal labor-management relation in
a democracy. The unions of the Amer
lean Federation of Labor devote time
and money to athletic programs for
the youth of our city. They also
encourage more serious activities !
the writing of these essays is a state
project sponsored by the Montana
Federation of Labor to help people
understand labor's detectives and ac-
complishments.
Organized labor has been sharply |
probably with some justifi-
cation, for some of the methods it |
has used to achieve its gains, but our
country is, beyond question, far more
democratic due to the contributions
Of the labor unions. They have prac-
tically eliminated the working class
from our language. Through their
activities they have made it possible |
for a man that works with his hands
to attain an equality that is unique
N our world today. They have helped |
their members to become better work
ers and better citizens through their
facilities; and by their
ocal social, recreational, athletic and |
civic activities, have made America
better place in which to live. !
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
n