MAIN HIGHWAYS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 25 June 1925, Page 7

MAIN HIGHWAYS.

i'-KIHOL tax most eqeitahli

REPORT OF AIR. A. K. •) I'Ll

j] |- ~\, E. .lull. <•<> linin'.', re preseii taon the .Main Highways Roaid. who lately returned 10 .New Zealand alter a tout of America and England, has ,submitted a report on highway matters abroad. Mf. .Jail's report is of pa menhir interest, as it goes into detail" oi the financial side ot highway construction and maintenance, whereas other reports submitted to the board have dealt with this maiior mainly from an engineering point of view. ".Summarising my impressions." states Air. dull, "f think the motor users in (treat Uritain arc taxed at a \er.v high rate, ami yet the local authorities are hard put to jt to provide their contribution towards road const rnefiou and eia i ntena nee. Ihe taxation on the horse-po’.ve.r of cars iinikes ihe j).casin o ear pay dsiproportiunaioly as coinpared witii the commercial vehicle. The present system undoubtedly in H ueneOs Rritish ear imi nnfactt:rers to keep down tiic horse-power oi ears, all hough ii certainly has enabled the Hritisli maker to successfully compete agaiio.i the .heap Ameriean ears like the Ford. tin. annual license fee lor which is L'2i. i saw in the States literally thousands of used Fords, which could bo bought for due-hall the exist oi the annual tax on such a ear imposed in Great Until j n.

"In the United States and Canada the most interesting factor in taxation for road construction is the taxation of the cities for county roads and the general recognition of the equity of tax at ion of the road user.

“J am decidedly of opinion that the gasoline or petrol tax is the most equitable form or taxation, although a comparatively small tax on each car in addition is the usual practice, and J have no fault to find with that practice.

"1 am of opinion that, where reasonably good gravel is obtainable many of our New Zealand main highways can still he most economieaP.v and efficiently maintained with such surfacing, j must add that efficient maintenance means the keeping of the road continuously nil to the standard adopted, in other words. ‘Eternal vigilance i s the price of good road maintenance.' "I certainly lee! that in many eases where we ip New Zealand are considering paving certain roads with a most expensive surface, the traffic tallies on some of these roads would not in the States or Canada he eonsiderd sufficient -to-warrant anything like such expeudit.uie. it is unfortunate however, that our road costs for construction and maintenance must for many years be disproportionate to the trailie.

"When we see. the enormous motor traffic- in America and its equally enormous potential taxing ' power, we can understand how they can continue the road construction programme which would in our ,sparsely-populated Dominion be quite beyond our resources, yet there are in the States thousand's of miles of main highways without even a gravel surface.

"A final word is. that while in many States in America Joans have been raised for road construction, and in some States .such a method still obtains, the tendency is to do all such work out of revenue entirely.”