MOTOR BILL CRITICISED

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2215, 30 July 1914, Page 4

MOTOR BILL CRITICISED

m> — "TIRES SHOULD BE TAXED, NOT CARS., ■ The Legislation Committee of tho" ■ \\ ellington City Council hold a special meeting on Tuosday evening to consider Hie Motor Regulation Bill now before Parliament. It is understood that tho whole of the members of tho committee were opposed to the manner in, which it was proposed to tax motor-cars annually, i.e., oil their engino horse-power. Oil,© member of the committee, who is a motorist, stated ,tliat as set cut in/the schedule ho -would have to pay '£10 every year for the privilege of running a car that was seldom used except.at week-ends, whereas si business vehicle or the same lyjrso-power that was rushing over the streets from dawn till dark , had only to pay £3 or £4 a year. After some discussion of an interesting nature, it was decided that the most equitablo form of taxation, was the imposition of -an ad valorem duty on .tires, tho money accruing therefrom to be ear-marked for tho upkeop of. arterial roads. It was only natural to sujpose that the more tires a man was wearing out the more ho-was using tho roads. Ono owner of a 35 horse-power car might drive between Wellington and Upper- Hutt once a week, whilst a business vehicle might make two trips a 'lav, yet as the-schedule is , now arranged in the Bill 'the latter pays less than half tlio tax imposed on the for-, toer,

Another point discussed was tlie difficulty of proper registration, which all admit is somewhat cliaotic in character at the present time. The committee favours a central registration body for the whole of the Dominion, to be administered, say, by the Wellington City Council. All applications for registration would have to be made through the local body to the Motor Registrar at Wellington, and not until the notification that such car had been duly registered, should a' liccnse be .issued. When the Registrar forwarded the registration .certificates,' each would have a distinct number, which would be, endorsed on tlie license by the local authority. By tliis means it is believed tliat something like order could be brought about in respect to .registration.

' Still another highly-debatable point considered by tho committee was tho matter of an anuyal license. At pre-' sent a (iar is licensed once for all time, /but , as."cars..,frequo)itlj; change' handswithout notification being given to the registering authorities of. auch changes, they are sometimes difficult to trace. It is projiosed that cars be licensed annually, and a nominal fee charged for the! i license.- 'This would tend to k'eejrtho.register of cars fairly accurate from year to year. " . • . Representations to' the above effect are-to be made to the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. H. D. Bell) in the near future. ■