§ I have given prolonged study to the question of collecting the bulk of the taxation upon motors through the agency of a motor spirit tax, instead of by the existing system of licence duties. The advantages of the change are obvious to everyone who thinks about the subject.
1712§ Clearly such a system of taxation would be in far more close accord with the use of the roads by individuals, and the wear and tear they impose upon them, than any arbitrary scale of licence duties based upon a nominal scale of horse-power. Motorists are in favour of it, motor manufacturers are in favour of it, and it has been strongly pressed upon me by the representatives of the railway companies and of the railway trade unions. Because no countervailing excise duty would he levied on home productions, it would exercise a favourable influence, and be a favourable factor in that all important cause of developing the production of oil from coal, thus restoring our coalfields to their old position. This would only be a factor, but it would be an important factor. The difficulties are, however, as great as the advantages, and in particular the financial difficulties of the transition from one system to another have not been solved, and I am not able to make proposals to the Committee in the present Budget. The question, however, will be perseveringly examined, and I have not abandoned the hope of making such a change during the lifetime of the present Parliament.