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Higher User Taxes Would Be Bad Economics (continued from page 55) dustry agree with the principle that the users of a transportation system should pay their fair share of the costs for that system. How- ever, we disagree with the current administration's proposal allocat- ing to the waterways freight in- dustry of 70 percent of total fed- eral expenditures. This, on top of the currently mandated 10 cents per gallon fuel tax, is hardly what anyone reasonably could call a "fair share." The proposal also would author- ize segment-specific ton-mile fees providing for recovery of 70 per- cent of the capital expenditures of the Corps and TVA assigned to commercial waterways transpor- tation projects. Moreover, the pro- posal contemplates imposition of congestion fees on top of the rest. Instead of being a compromise in the administration's scheme be- tween the "ideal" and the status quo, which is how it is advertised, the level of recovery could actually exceed 100 percent of the costs. For almost two hundred years, a combination of geographic, politi- cal and economic forces converged nson OURAMAX Sleeve and Flanged Bearings Molded Rubber—Securely Bonded to Naval Brass Shell. They Meet Military Specification MIL-B-17901A (Ships) Class II Full-Molded Type. Easy to Install — Easy to Replace Less Shaft Vibration — Quieter Running — Non Polluting Full Range Of Sizes From 3/4 Through 6 Inches In Sleeve Bearings — And From 2 Inches Through 15 Inches In Flanged Bearings. WRITE FOR BEARING CATALOG DURAMAX MARINE division of The Johnson Rubber Company ^T. M. Reg. Printed in U S A Middlefield, Ohio 44062 U.S.A Area Code 216/632-1611 Telex: 21-2564 JRCM UR / Cable: "DURAMAX" Dependable Products For Ships Throughout The World 6-2010-283 Write 227 on Reader Service Card PUT MONEY IN YOUR POCKET WITH SCAMP INVEST $1.00 IN HULL CLEANING AND GET $10.00 BACK IN FUEL SAVINGS All ships trading in or through tropical waters (including those with SPC paint) will save fuel dollars by routinely removing hull fouling with SCAMP Underwater Hull Cleaning Machines. For more information, write or call today. UNDERWATER HULL CLEANING # BUTTERWORTH INC. (Formerly Partek Corporation of Houston) Dept.CJC, 3721 Lapas Drive, P.O Box 18312, Houston, Texas 77223 USA Phone: (713) 644-3636 Toll Free: (800) 231-3628 Telex: 762199 <£} BUTTERWORTH SYSTEMS (UK) LTD. Dept.CJC, 123 Beddington Lane, Croydon CR 9 4NX, England, Phone: 01-684-4049 Telex: 946524 Cable: MAROPEDOK CROYDON to forge a principle of federal re- sponsibility for construction, operation, and maintenance of the inland waterways. This policy dates back to the earliest days of the na- tion when Congress, in order to encourage interstate transporta- tion, forbade any charge for the use of inland waterways. The pol- icy was enunciated, among other places, in the Northwest Ordi- nance of 1789, which declared that inland waterways "shall be com- mon highways and forever free . . . without any tax, impost or duty therefor." That policy went out the win- dow, with the Inland Waterways Revenue Act of 1978, which estab- lished a tax on fuel used in com- mercial transportation on 26 in- land and intracoastal waterway segments, the revenues from which are deposited in the inland water- ways trust fund. The tax, increas- ing from 4 cents per gallon in 1980, to 6 cents currently, and to 10 cents by 1985, has created a change in national policy so new that the impacts of the legislation have not yet been fully felt, much less analyzed. The U.S. Treasury is now col- lecting approximately $5 million for each 1
