Executive Order  No. 66: (1st Series) Replacement of lost or mutilated motor vehicle number plates without collecting a fee

WHEREAS, it is customary to issue new number plates annually for motor vehicles registered in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, the manufacture of new number plates for motor vehicles registered in the Commonwealth has been curtailed since 1942 because the material used in the manufacture of said plates has been necessary for the prosecution of the war; and

WHEREAS, in lieu of the issuance of new number plates, those issued in the year 1942 have been continued in use up to the present time on motor vehicles annually registered in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, many of such number plates may become or already have become lost, mutilated or illegible because of long continued use; and

WHEREAS, General Laws (Ter. Ed.) chapter 90, section 33, provides that the Registrar of Motor Vehicles or his authorized agents shall collect a fee of one dollar for every additional number plate furnished to replace such plates as have been lost or mutilated or are illegible; and

WHEREAS, it is unjust to charge such a fee as is specified in said General Laws (Ter. Ed.) chapter 90, section 33, because of the circumstances hereinbefore set forth:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, acting under the provisions of Acts of 1941, chapter 719, as amended by Acts of 1943, chapter 3; Acts of 1942, chapter 13, and all other authority vested in me, do hereby issue this order as a measure necessary and expedient for meeting the supreme emergency of the existing state of war between the United States and certain foreign countries.

The Registrar of Motor Vehicles and his authorized agents are hereby empowered, during the remainder of the year 1944, to furnish without collection of a fee therefor additional number plates for use on motor vehicles or trailers registered within the Commonwealth under General Laws (Ter. Ed.) chapter 90 to replace such plates as have been lost or mutilated or are illegible.

The provisions of General Laws (Ter. Ed.) chapter 90, section 33, as amended, to the extent that such provisions are inconsistent with this order, shall be inoperative during the effective period hereof.

GIVEN at the Executive Chamber in Boston, this third day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and forty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and sixty- eighth.

By His Excellency the Governor,
Leverett Saltonstall