Show sandbagging Sand bagging the motorist oregon started with a 2 cent gas tax raised it to three and now Is proposing to increase it to six cents i gallon in the coming session of 0 the legislature on the theory that by so doing automobile licenses can be reduced and the heaviest tax load be ba placed on those who use the road the most california adopted a two cent gasoline tax two years ago and reduced the license tee fee to a flat price of 3 now it is proposed to increase the gas tax to three or tour four cents a gallon and the license tax to 5 on all motor cars cara gasoline and motor car taxes tabea have spread like wildfire wild fire tire over the nation tax gatherers have found it easier to raise money from this source than from rom any other the claim Is that the motorist derives all the benefits ol of good roads therefore he should pay the bill this is unsound reasoning nobody dees greater benefit from good highways than do the towns along alon the highways the farms adjacent to them ind country tributary to such paved road land 10 to 30 miles from a trading center which was almost worthless before hard surfaced highways were built is today more accessible to markets and towns than were farms five and ten miles away on the old dirt dir t roads what has enabled local land lords in every town along a main trunk highway to double and treble their rents in the past few years paved roads principally which have brought ten people to town where one came before the gas tax is nothing but an expediency ency tax adopted because it is the easiest way to raise money and because superficial arguments in its favor seem plausible to public it is not equal taxation an no argument can make it so so long as it was kept within reason it was tolerated just as was the tea tax prior to the revolution not satisfied with moderation however oregon is facing a tax of six cents a gallon on gas why not make it 10 cents a gallon or 15 cents a gallon and remove all annual automobile license taxes the theory that the gas tax will make the tourist pay more money in the state will act as a boomerang the tourists who now spend millions in each ot of the coast states will rebel at gas taxes and as florida has repealed its inheritance tax to attract capital to that state so hlll other states repeal their gas taxes in order to attract tourists away from states which sandbag them the minute they cross the state line the public wants tax reduction and it wants equal taxation shifting Shit ting taxes from one shoulder to the other or from one class of citizens to another class while constantly ing a larger aggregate amount per capita Is simply piling up trouble for the future under the proposal in oregon a ford would pay a 60 cent tax every time 10 gallons of gas was put in its tank |