except in cases of retail sales, where exemption is not claimed by the purchaser under the terms of this act. Said bills shall contain a statement printed thereon in a conspicuous place that the liability to the District of Columbia for the tax herein imposed has been assumed, and that the dealer or dealers in question will pay said tax on or before the last day of the following month.

SEC. 6. That the tax in respect to motor-vehicle fuel sold or used in any calendar month shall be paid on or before the last day of the next succeeding month to the collector of taxes of the District of Columbia, who shall receipt to the dealer therefor and cover same into the Treasury of the United States, and the said collector shall keep a separate record of all revenue thus received.

SEC. 7. That the records of all purchases, receipts, sales, distribution, and use of motor-vehicle fuel of every dealer, shall at all times during the business hours of the day, be subject to inspection by the assessor and the collector of taxes of the District of Columbia or by their duly authorized agents, or by any other agent duly authorized by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, to make such inspection.

SEC. 8. That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation, and any retail dealer or distributor of motor-vehicle fuel to receive and accept any shipment from any dealer or to pay for the same, or to sell or offer for sale, any motor-vehicle fuel unless the statement provided for in section 5 of this act, appears upon the invoices of said shipment. If any shipment originating and terminating within the District of Columbia is received and accepted by any person, firm or corporation, or any retail dealer or distributor, from any dealers or is sold or offered for sale by him or them, upon the invoice of which said statement does not appear, such person, firm, or corporation, or retail dealer or distributor, shall pay to the Collector of Taxes, the tax herein imposed or be liable to the District of Columbia for double the amount of the said tax, which tax may be recovered by civil suit or action in any court of competent jurisdiction.

SEC. 9. That no tax on motor-vehicle fuels exported or sold for exportation from the District of Columbia to any other jurisdiction or nation, shall be imposed.

SEC. 10. That any person, firm, or corporation who shall buy or use any motor vehicle fuel as defined in this act for the purpose of operating or propelling any stationary gas engine, tractor, used for agricultural purposes, motor boat, aeroplane, or aircraft, or who shall purchase or use any of such fuel for cleaning or dyeing or for any other commercial use of the same, except in motor vehicles operated or intended to be operated, in whole or in part, upon any of the public highways of the District of Columbia, on which motor fuel the tax imposed by this act shall have been paid, shall be reimbursed and repaid the amount of such tax paid by him upon presenting to the auditor of the District of Columbia a statement accompanied by the original invoice showing such purchase, which statement shall set forth the total amount of such fuel so purchased and used by such consumer, other than in motor vehicles operated or intended to be operated upon any of the public highways of the District of Columbia, and said auditor, upon the presentation of such statement and such vouchers, shall cause to be repaid to such consumer from the taxes collected on motor-vehicle fuels, the said taxes paid on fuels purchased or used, other than for motor vehicles as aforesaid: Provided, That applications for refunds as provided for herein, must be filed with the auditor of the District of Columbia within ninety days from the date of purchase or invoice.

SEC. 11. That any dealer, person, association, or persons, firm, or corporation, violating any of the provisions of this act, or any person, firm, or agent of any corporation who shall make any false statement in connection with an application for refund of any money or tax as provided in this act, or who shall collect or cause to be repaid to him or to any person any tax without being entitled to the same under the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in the reformatory of the District of Columbia for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SEC. 12. That it shall be unlawful for the assessor or the collector of taxes, or any of the agents or employees of the District of Columbia, to disclose, except when required so to do by a court of law, the amount of tax paid in pursuance of the terms of this act by any dealer or dealers, or any other information contained in the reports filed by any dealer or dealers, under the terms thereof, and any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment for not more than three months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SEC. 13. That electrically driven and steam operated motor vehicles shall, in addition to the annual registration fee of $1, be charged as follows: $6 for each vehicle of

twenty-four horsepower or less, $10 for each vehicle of more than twenty-four horsepower and less than thirty horsepower, and $20 for each vehicle of thirty horsepower or

more.

SEC. 14. That all motor vehicles owned and officially used by the United States or by the District of Columbia shall carry identification tags of the same character and subject to the same regulations and provisions as apply to all other motor vehicles operated within the District of Columbia; all such tags to be furnished without charge. SEC. 15. That when, under authority of law, gasoline or other motor vehicle fuel is sold by an agency of the United States within the District of Columbia, for use in privately owned vehicles, such agencies of the United States shall, by agreement with the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, arrange for the collection of the tax of 1 cent per gallon herein authorized to be imposed, and for account, to the collector of taxes of the District of Columbia, for the proceeds of such tax collections. In general, the arrangements so established shall, as far as permissible, accord with the provisions of sections 5 and 6 of this act.

SEC. 16. That all laws inconsistent with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed.

Mr. MACKALL. I can bring you a definite and positive statement from the governor that this will be done. I can not go further than that. You will have to take our good faith beyond that; but I will bring a definite written statement to this committee if it desires it. Senator MCNARY. Oh, no; we do not need it. Your statement is good enough. I am convinced now that they are going forward. That is just what I wanted to find out.

Senator JONES of Washington. But the commissioners will have to get this bill in shape, and if they will send it up here we will act on it.

Senator MCNARY. Does any other gentleman desire to say anything to us?

STATEMENT OF M. O. ELDRIDGE, REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN AUTO VEHICLE ASSOCIATION.

Mr. ELDRIDGE. May I say, Senator, that Colonel Keller, the engineer commissioner of the District of Columbia, handed me this bill this morning and asked me to send it to Mr. Mackall as a tentative draft, not as a completed bill. For that reason I should like to say that this is only a tentative draft that has been prepared by the District Commissioners, and not the finished copy.

Senator WELLER. It is your understanding, however, that Colonel Keller is agreeable to the proposition?

Mr. ELDRIDGE. Yes; but that provides for a tax of 1 cent instead of 2, and that is the thing I wanted to say to Mr. Mackall. Senator MCNARY. Very well. Is there anyone else?

Senator OVERMAN. Suppose North Carolina, for example, my State, has a license tax on automobiles of $25 or $30, and a 1-cent tax on gasoline. Do you give us reciprocity?

Mr. MACKALL. Yes, sir.

Senator MCKINLEY. You have it now, but you would be paying your tax down there and you would be paying it up here, also.

Senator OVERMAN. I know; if I bought gasoline here, I would have to pay the tax; but the fact that we do not put a tax of 2 cents a gallon on gasoline does not change the relations?

Mr. MACKALL. No, sir.

STATEMENT OF RAYMOND BECK, FIELD SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL MOTORISTS' ASSOCIATION.

Mr. BECK. Mr. Chairman, I am not going to inject the question of a 2-cent gasoline tax, except to supplement your records by the exact statute that Maryland has passed. I will read it, if you wish, or I can furnish it to you.

Senator MCNARY. Just supply the record with it.

(The matter referred to, being section 14 of the "2-cent gasoline tax bill," chapter 522 of the acts of the General Assembly of Maryland of 1922, is as follows:)

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the governor of the State is hereby authorized and empowered to confer and advise with the proper officers of the District of Columbia, and enter into reciprocal agreement effective on and after January 1, 1924, under which the registration of motor vehicles owned by the residents of this State will be recognized by the District of Columbia, and he is further authorized and empowered from time to time after January 1, 1924, to grant to residents of the District of Columbia the privilege of using the roads of this State in return for the similar privilege granted residents of this State by the District of Columbia.

Mr. BECK. I thought that might clarify your records in the case of review.

Our association has taken the attitude that the 2-cent gasoline tax, or the gasoline tax prorated, as may be deemed best, to take care of the problem of road maintenance and repair, is a fair and equitable tax in lieu of all other taxes. My first point of contact, however, with the Curry_amendment which is really the proposition under discussion, as I understand-was an invitation for a conference with Representative Curry, in which we told him that we were unqualifiedly opposed to the original amendment that he drew up, and which was announced publicly in the newspapers, on account of the fact that 34 States would be automatically cut off from receipt of Federal-aid funds, and therefore we thought that at least 34 States would be opposed to it.

Senator MCNARY. That has been cared for in the proviso.

Mr. BECK. He asked me at that time to prepare what we thought would be a logical solution of the reciprocity problem throughout the country, and not as a reprisal measure against the State of Maryland. We told him in general terms that we would be opposed to any legislation that would muddle up the distribution of State highways or the distribution of Federal-aid road funds, but if such an amendment were going to be passed we should like to see it passed in such a way that the States could take care of amending their individual State statutes so as to comply with the Federal enactment and receive Federal-aid road funds. Therefore we drew up the amendment that you read there, I think.

Senator MCNARY. Yes; we are familiar with that. We have been all over that. Thank you very much.

FURTHER STATEMENT OF JOHN N. MACKALL, CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE ROADS COMMISSION OF MARYLAND.

Mr. MACKALL. Senator, I have taken a lot of your time. I should like to make just one more suggestion for the consideration of the committee, and that is in regard to the commercial vehicle. Senator MCNARY. Very well.

Mr. MACKALL. I believe that if provision is made for reciprocity for passenger vehicles, that is all that would be necessary. I do not believe that it is fair for a truck owned in the State of Pennsylvania to take out a license in that State and enter into a general hauling business in the State of Maryland; so I would suggest for your consideration the elimination of the commercial vehicle from the general automatic provision of reciprocity.

Senator SMITH. That is a good suggestion. I am right up against that in my State now.

Senator WELLER. That is another aspect of it.

Senator SMITH. Otherwise, a man could get a license in some other State and come down in my State and haul logs and tear up the roads and not pay a thing.

Mr. MACKALL. That could be taken off where you have reciprocity for pleasure vehicles.

Senator SMITH. In other words, this has in contemplation just the passenger vehicles that go through from State to State? Mr. MACKALL. Yes, sir.

(The hearings were thereupon closed, and the subcommittee adjourned.)