CONFERENCE OF GOVERNORS. 113 



the Union. The Connecticut law is merely a copy of the Massa- 

 chusetts law, and the Massachusetts law we think is about as good 

 as any in the country. His Excellency referred to the fact that 

 there was a maximum limit in the State of Connecticut. There 

 is no maximum limit there; there is merely a prima facie limit, 

 Just the same as there is in Massachusetts, but in Massachusetts 

 it is a limit of 30 miles an hour and in Connecticut about 25 miles 

 an hour, and they have copied our regulations regarding the width 

 of road, the amount of traffic, etc. 



We have heard that the automobile is the cause of a great deal 

 of destruction to the highways. Mr. Parker referred to the fact 

 that 53 per cent, of the road destruction was due to automobiles. 

 He forgot to tell you that in Massachusetts this last year we con- 

 tributed $120,000 to the $240,000 required for the maintenance 

 of this 800 miles of highway. In the Few England States we 

 have to-day more than 30,000 motor vehicles registered. These 

 vehicles are worth more than $50,000,000. Their owners contribute 

 to the several States, in the way of registrations, fines, etc., more 

 than $200,000 per annum. In the way of local taxation they con- 

 tribute to municipal treasuries hundreds of thousands of dollars 

 per annum. The people who own these automobiles now drive 

 them practically ten months of the year. They are men of high 

 standing in the community in which they live. They desire to see 

 law and order prevail. They are anxious to contribute their share 

 in maintaining the government, but they are anxious also that they 

 shall be treated somewhere near equal to other classes of users of 

 the highway. At the present time they are not. 



My friend Governor Bachelder referred to the fact that the 

 grange had got after the motorists in regard to speed. I wish 

 Governor Bachelder would assist us in making it necessary for all 

 vehicles to carry at least one lamp at night. We have sought for 

 several years to secure this self -protecting law, and yet it is turned 

 down by the very people who are most to be benefited by it. Only 

 this morning a man here in Boston asked me to bring this light 

 bill again to the attention of the Legislature. That is not the only 

 bill that is coming up, but that is one on which the State Grange 

 can help us very much. The average vehicle carries a lantern, but 

 it is often not lighted. We have a non-resident law that is in 

 operation in many States. In Maine anybody may operate, and also 

 in Few Hampshire. In Massachusetts it was recently discovered 

 that an automobile might be operated here for seven days, but 

 it would have to operate itself, unless the owner was with it. In 



