The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-04-26
AUTO MORE THAN EVER
LINKS TOWN TO FARM
John A. Wilson. Just Returned from
Official Trip, Will Make Re-
port to Association.


IF Adam Smith, the great Scotch
economist. who set forth so concisely
the interdependence of the town dweller
and the farmer could only return to
life today, he would join with us in
hailing the motor-driVen vehicle as a
wonderful economic factor in effectively
welding together the means of COM
munication between community and
country
President John a. Wilson. of the
American Automobile Association, has
included this paragraph in the report
which he will make to the meeting of the
executive board, to be held in Buffalo.
April - upon his return from the ocean
to-ocean visiting trip to the associations
State ami local clubs. Commenting fur
Their the head of the national body of
motor car owners win say:
In encouraging and making it pos
sible for people to leave centers of popu-
lation and live comfortably in the coun-
try. the automobile has been the missing
necessity, as has been made apparent by
the quickly insIstent manner in which it
has come into its own. This intToduc-
ton of new vehicle on the highways
has brought with it the demand for es-
sential changes in road construction and
maintenance. in the character of laws
governing traffic movement, and in the
preparation and dissemination of infor-
nation for the wider range OF motor car
use. With horse-drawn vehicles travel
was comparatively local: motor-driven
transport of men and merchandise is not
only interCountry but interstate as well,
: for it must be remembered that the geo
graphical location of our most important
cities has comparatively little TO do with
State lines.
After a trip across the country, which
has included talks and conferences with
officers and directors of a a. A clubs.
I can I Irdly fail to note the pronounced
enthusiasm of men who are laboring for
all those things which tend to accelerate
the use of the vehicle that now enters
into every progressive phase of human
existence. In every State visited I found
the same demand for highways improve
ment. the reaching out from market
places to outlying farms. and the more
hcalthful relationship in the earnest CO.
operation between communities. town,
and country. and noticeably in the great
or understanding between States as to
, their common needs.
. When it comes to the question of Fed
eral aid in roads bctterment. il may he
true that the Western States will more
thoroughly appreciate that which will
come from the central source, but the
q Eastern Commonwealth must keep in
greatest quantity of the country's food
stuffs must come from the prairie States
of the section beyond the Mississippi
While I am purposely placing IL as a
secondary matter. IL is entirely right that
those States which possess scenic at
= fractions second TO nothing found in
Europe should be assisted in making
these assets collectible, for ii is entirely
too true that many of our weIl-to-do peo-
pie spend their vacations in foreign coun-
tries. when they have near at hand. but.
unfortunately. inaccessible. equally at
tractivo health-giving resorts within the
confines OF their own country. tour
which would embrace Yellowstone. Gla-
cier Park. the Yosemite Valley. and the
Grand Canyon could not be duplicated in
European countries. and | have only
mentioned a few Of tho hest known Of
our national recreation places. Let us
not alone provide for our material needs
but at the same time avail ourselves Of
natures manifold treasures