Gas Tax Triumphant
Here is a paradox—a popular tax. No State, having adopted a gasoline tax, has repealed it. Though the levies, starting at two cents, range as high as five cents a gallon, no State, having fixed a rate, has reduced it.
Advocates, on the other hand, have many talking points. The tax is easily collected, it is not a nuisance, it falls on many but on no one unable to bear it, and it is heavy or light in proportion to use of the roads. Yet in the very sanity of the levy there is an element of danger. Its popularity invites attempts to boost it sky-high and expend its revenue for purposes other than its fundamental one. Gas tax receipts should be employed solely for the construction and maintenance of highways.
EVERY STATE in the Union now imposes a tax on gasoline used in motor vehicles. Massachusetts, Illinois and New York were the last to swing into line. The Massachusetts tax became effective last January. The first Illinois law was frowned on by the courts ; the second, establishing a rate of three cents a gallon, with an estimated income of $20,000,000 annually, has been approved and will be collected after July 31. The New York tax of two cents, expected to produce about $25,000,000 a year, will go into effect next month.
Source: Outlook and Independent 24 April 1929
1920's AUTOMOBILE RESOURCES
Henry Ford Autobiography
MY LIFE AND WORK - by Henry Ford. A fascinating look behind the scenes at the birth of the automobile industry.
Automotive Industry Events of 1922
Press releases detailing management changes and technological advances of 1922.
List of 1922 Automobiles
Full List of Car Makes and Prices in 1922.