Taxes of 5, 6, 7 Cents a Gallon Gasoline "Alarmingly Prevalent," March 22, 1932

Many good state legislative officers seem to look on the gasoline tax as a godsend when it comes to raising revenue for any and all purposes.

The decline in revenue from other kinds of taxes has intensified this trend. Now it is advocated that gas taxes be used for unemployment relief, poor relief, general state purposes, and so on. All of these purposes are, no doubt, laudable, and some are necessary, but it is difficult to understand why the bill should be passed on to the motorist.

A reasonable gas tax—with stress on the word “reasonable”—all of whose receipts are used for road work, is sound and it is accepted as essential by the majority of motorists. But when gas tax goes beyond certain levels, or when the revenue derived is applied in other directions, it becomes class taxation of the most onerous kind. Taxes of 5, 6, and 7 cents a gallon are becoming alarmingly prevalent.

The upshot of the matter will probably be a “motorist revolt.” The public must make itself felt in no uncertain way, if it is to keep the marauding hands of the gas-taxers out of its pocketbook.

From the editorial page of The Ruralite, Sylva, N.C., March 22, 1932, Mrs. E.E. Brown, publisher.

newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn91068754/1932-03-22/ed-1/seq-4/