Mr. BATES. Is that because of force of circumstances or because it is more economical?

Mr. CANNON. Well, you cannot get the money to buy a new one; you cannot advance enough money ahead to make a down payment; so as a result, as the car grows older, you have got to get out of it.

Mr. BATES. If you had money enough to buy a car, could you get a car, and would your permit to drive apply to that car?

Mr. CANNON. I do not quite understand.

Mr. BATES. In other words, if you bought a car today, could you drive on the driver's permit you now have?

Mr. CANNON. I have a District driver's permit; I have a hacker's permit and license.

Mr. BATES. Then you could drive any car, including your own? Mr. CANNON. That is right.

Mr. BATES. I see.

What do you find the general condition of the streets to be? The previous witness spoke about the condition of the streets being bumpy and so forth.

Mr. CANNON. Well, I find that there are just a few streets in town that are in bad condition. The most of them are in good condition. Of course, they are doing a lot of work digging, tearing up streets, which is natural after the war years when they did not do much.

Mr. BATES. Mr. Keller, while you were out of the room testimony was given that the cost of gasoline has increased 2.6 within the year. Are those the facts?

Mr. KELLER. Well, the price, the most recent price in gasoline, Mr. Chairman, was an increase of 1 cent per gallon, and the previous increase before that was three-tenths of a cent per gallon; that is all reflected in the official statistics which I released from the BureauMr. BATES. What was it, say, a year ago?

Mr. KEETING. Say, VJ-day?

Mr. KELLER. VJ-day? It may be true back there. I do not have any information on that. It might well be at that time.

Mr. BATES. What was the 0.3 increase; when did that take place?
Mr. KELLER. I think about 3 months ago; 3 or 4 months ago.
Mr. BATES. And the 1-cent increase?

Mr. KELLER. The 1-cent increase went into effect about 3 weeks
Mr. BATES. Three weeks ago?

Mr. KELLER. Yes, sir.

Mr. BATES. And the preceding increase was when?

ago.

Mr. KELLER. The preceding increase, I do not have any recollection of it, any independent recollection of it; it might have been-I think there was some price adjustment around after VJ-day. Mr. BATES. VJ-day?

Mr. KELLER. Yes, sir.

Mr. BATES. So, these taxi drivers who are large consumers of gasoline have to pay 2.6 over and above what they did after VJ-day.

Mr. KELLER. That may be a perfectly proper figure; I do not know what the figure is, but it may well be right.

Mr. BATES. So, if this is another cent, it would be 3.6, and it would be about 36 cents a day over and above the VJ-day price.

Mr. CANNON. It would run over a hundred dollars a year.
Mr. BATES. Yes. Just about a hundred dollars a year.

Mr. CANNON. And you have to remember during the war our average workday was around 7 hours. Now it is 12, and the amount of money coming in is not as great-far below.

Mr. BATES. Thank you, Mr. Cannon.
Mr. CANNON. Thank you.
Mr. BATES. Who is next?

Mr. KEETING. Mr. Brown.

Mr. BATES. Sit right down, Mr. Brown.

STATEMENT OF ARTIN BROWN, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mr. BROWN. My name is Artin Brown, and I am a driver of a Yellow Cab. It is a rental cab. I have been driving cabs in Washington for some 14 years. I drove in the latter thirties, called by some drivers the "terrible thirties" and by others the "dirty thirties," when conditions among them could best be described by the word "desperate."

Then it was necessary to save up for months to buy a new pair of pants, while a new suit was just about out of the question.

I do not expect to drive a cab all my life, since I am at present studying horticulture and expect to make that my profession.

However, I have a deep interest in the cab business and the drivers, and sincerely hope that they will never again reach that state of semiexistence in which they labored during the thirties.

I am, therefore, opposed to the proposed gas-tax increase which I view as an opening wedge in another decline in the cab driver's livelihood.

While I appreciate the beauty of Washington and would like to see its appearance maintained and even improved, I do not think it should be done at the expense of this group of men and women whose failure to organize into a pressure group places them at the mercy of considerate men, such as I hope compose the membership of this committee.

As a single man, it is beyond my comprehension how the fellows with large families are able to make ends meet under present conditions. I hope you will vote down the demand for an increase in gasoline taxes.

Mr. BATES. Let me ask you a question. How many hours a day do you drive?

Mr. BROWN. Well, sir, my condition is entirely different from the others. I do not work too much. I work about 35 or 40 hours, sometimes maybe 50 hours. I spend a lot of time on my studies; I go out of town with the Department of Agriculture; I do a lot of work at home on agriculture. I work just enough to make my ends

meet.

Mr. BATES. What do you mean by your studies?

Mr. BROWN. I am studying horticulture.

Mr. BATES. You are a veteran, you mean?

Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir.

Mr. BATES. Under the veterans' program?

Mr. BROWN. No, sir; we do not get that. I have not gone into it. I am taking two different courses, landscaping and horticulture, and it takes much of my time.

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Mr. BATES. Now, let me ask you this. Where do you take thos courses?

Mr. BROWN. I take correspondence courses.

Mr. BATES. I see. Are you married or single!

Mr. BROWN. I am single.

Mr. BATES. Then you drive, of course, just enough to get along to keep up with your studies?

Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir.

Mr. BATES. That is very commendable. Of course, your case is a little bit different.

Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir.

Mr. BATES. So, you say you drive around 40 hours a week. What do you consider to be net income for 40 hours, let us assume, not applying to yourself but, generally speaking.

Mr. BROWN. Forty hours is not enough to make expenses; about twenty-five, thirty, it depends upon business conditions.

Mr. BATES. Twenty-five, thirty dollars a week for 40 hours?

Mr. BROWN. Net, possibly. Business varies according to conditions One man might work 10 hours and take in so much, and another might work 10 hours and make only from 50 to 75 percent of what the other one would make.

Mr. BATES. From your experience, say an 8-hour run, an average 8-hour run a day, would bring in how much money a day?

Mr. BROWN. Eight hours net?

Mr. BATES. Well, gross; let us take gross.

Mr. BROWN. Well, twelve, thirteen, ten dollars; it varies.

Mr. BATES. You say twelve, thirteen dollars is a fairly good average gross?

Mr. BROWN. Well, no, not good; between ten, twelve, and thirteenyou see, here is another thing you have got to take into consideration. A cab driver, when a man goes out fresh he can take in more money than a man who is at the peak end of his day's work. It is hard to explain, but when you are fresh you can get the business. But after you have worked a few hours you lag.

Mr. BATES. You get tired.

Mr. BROWN. There is something that happens to your average. Mr. BATES. Well, that is true.

Mr. BROWN. It is hard to explain. Of course, the average person believes that all you do is open the door and let them come in, and that is all there is to it, but there is more to it than that.

Mr. BATES. So, if you average net, say; 8 hours, seven or eight dollars, you are doing well?

Mr. BROWN. Oh, you would be doing very well if you were netting seven or eight; that is unusual.

Mr. BATES. That is where you rent the cab?

Mr. BROWN. It makes no difference whether you rent or buy, and the man who buys would net more, but then in the long run he has the expense of buying another cab.

Mr. BATES. That is right. Well, thank you very much.

Mr. BROWN. Thank you.

Mr. BATES. We now have Mr. Herrick of the Retail Gasoline Dealers Association of Washington, D. C.

We are glad to hear from you, Mr. Herrick.

STATEMENT OF R. A. HERRICK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE RETAIL GASOLINE DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mr. HERRICK. I am R. A. Herrick, executive director of the Retail Gasoline Dealers Association of Washington. I represent an association of approximately 300 retail gasoline dealers in the District of Columbia.

We are very definitely opposed to the proposed increase in gasoline tax in the District of Columbia.

In the first place, we believe that the present tax rate on gasoline, plus other motor vehicle fees, is bringing into the District government more than enough money to carry out a sound program of streets, highway, and bridge construction.

The Highway Department will have, I understand, approximately $34,000,000 to spend in the years 1946 to 1949, and there is a serious doubt in my mind that this money can be spent in this period if a sound and reasonable program is adopted.

Each month shows an increase in the gasoline tax collections, and as you know, more new cars and trucks are being delivered, with the result that this revenue will continue to increase.

By the same token, the registration fees and personal property taxes collected by the District Government will increase and it will not be surprising to me if a handsome surplus should result by the end of 1948-49 fiscal year at the present tax rate.

The gasoline retail dealers in Washington have made every effort to give every possible service to their customers. This service costs money, and any reduction in the sales of gasoline, because of additional taxes, cuts into the income that provides this service. Reduced service will mean laying off help and the results-unemployment. Many of the District gasoline service stations have expensive property that have high real estate taxes. The reduced volume caused by the increase in the gasoline tax would automatically make the real estate tax a new burden.

It is true that the gasoline dealers in Washington enjoy a substantial business from residents of neadby Maryland and Virginia. They are the people who work in Washington and spend a substantial part of their time here. They use our city streets, and the gasoline tax they pay through the purchase of gasoline here is their contribution. to maintenance and upkeep of those streets.

Frankly, we admit a tax differential because of a lower tax rate, and have no desire to see this business siphoned out to smaller localities where the cost of operating a service station is lower than here in the District. By the same token, the District would lose a substantial tax revenue.

As I see this whole question, there is no proven need for this tax increase. Rather, it would serve as a detriment to the government of the District of Columbia, the retail gasoline dealer of the District of Columbia, and the general public of the District of Columbia.

The trend today, as I understand, is toward tax reduction and elimination of unwise spending. The Highway Department has more money than it can spend and to give it more tax revenue would be

to encourage unwise spending, and this certainly is not in keeping with the general tax policy of this Congress.

Several gasoline-station operators have appeared this morning to explain more in detail why the gasoline tax increase will affect their business. They are small businessmen who feel the impact of unnecessary taxation. They must watch their operating cost to make a living.

I do not think it is the intention of this committee to do anything to make it difficult for these men to make a living. The proposed increase in gasoline could very well mean the difference between profit and loss to this group of small businessmen.

Mr. BATES. Mr. Herrick, can you tell me when that first increase after VJ-day took place?

Mr. HERRICK. I believe that the first increase took place the early part of last year.

Mr. BATES. The early part of 1946. Mr. HERRICK. 1946, I believe it was. I might state this, that I have just assumed the duties of this position since the middle of last month. I have been in contact with the service-station operators.

I heard a moment ago that the price of gasoline had gone up 2.6. I do not believe that is general. I think in some stations it has gone up 2.6, and in other stations, I think, it has gone up 1.6. In the District of Columbia at the present time you have some stations selling gasoline for 1 cent higher than other stations.

Mr. BATES. Today in the District of Columbia?

Mr. HERRICK. Yes, sir.

Mr. BATES. Well, now, do the gasoline or the oil companies sell gasoline to the dealers here at a cent differential?

Mr. HERRICK. That is correct.

Mr. KELLER. Not the companies, sir; that is the individual dealer. Mr. HERRICK. Individual dealers.

Mr. KELLER. Who set their own price.

Mr. BATES. What I am interested in is when the increase was made after VJ-day.

Mr. KELLER. As I stated yesterday, I do not have any price information at all, but that is a matter of public record. I would be very glad to get the exact time when the price increase was effective and furnish it to you.

Mr. BATES. Is that all, Mr. Herrick?

Mr. HERRICK. Yes, sir.

Mr. BATES. Now, Mr. Keller, is there anybody else?

Mr. KELLER. No, sir. That completes our list of witnesses this morning, Mr. Chairman.

I certainly would be ungrateful if I did not take this time to thank you for your very courteous and attentive hearing this morning. We all appreciate it very much.

Mr. BATES. Mr. Keller, have you seen this program that the Highway Department has laid out for, let us say, the next 10 years or so? Mr. KELLER. Yes, sir, I have; and I have given it a very great deal of attention. I appeared at the public hearing which the Commissioners held on March 26, when that program was first presented at the public hearing.

Mr. BATES. Did you find any fault with any specific project or projects that they have planned that might well be delayed?