AUTOMOBILE OBLIGATIONS TOWARD HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT

The author brings to attention very emphatically the responsibility of the automotive industry for some things besides the actual building and selling of motor cars.

The progress of civilization can be measured very largely by advances in means of communication. The transfer of messages by wire and wireless has made wonderful advances of a fundamental nature in recent years, but the transportation of commodities from place to place has not made such strides. The automotive industry has been concerned mostly with the actual development and production of the motor car and, as an industry, has stopped there without developing those allied activities which are vital to the long-time success of the business. The railroads afford a good example to follow in principle. Their roadbeds and the equipment operating thereon have been improved and developed hand-in-hand by the same general guiding influences and their wonderful advance in both is due fundamentally to this unified control of these two elements. A different condition exists today regarding highway transport. We have far better highways than formerly, but the author believes that the ratio between the demand on the highways and their ability to meet that demand has gone down rather than remained constant.

After expressing his sympathy with the difficulties confronting the highway engineer, the author rehearses the factors governing merchandise transportation and outlines means of betterment that should be promulgated by automotive engineers, with special reference to the construction and maintenance of highways for motor-vehicle use.