Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-09-19
SUBS|D|Z|NC MOTOR
TRUCKS F OR WAT
Encouraged to Purchase Trucks
Whereby Government May
Draft Them

Interesting light is thrown on the
methods adopted by the French and
German governments to subsidize mo-
tor trucks for military uses, by John n.
WHY'S, president of the Wfllys-Over-
land Company and builder of the Gar
WHY'S has just returned from London,
England, where he remained several
weeks after leaving the continent
shortly before the actual opening of
hostilities.
"The war lords of Europe early
foresaw the. superiority of the motor
means of transportation" says Mr..
WHY'S. This statement is verified by
the precautions they took to reserve
the right to use large batteries of
commercial use by private individuals
or corporations. They realized that in
case OF war the manufacturer Of au-
tomobiles on their side of the Allan
tic would be at a standstill. Conse-
.quently they adopted measures to as
sure themselves of the proper motor
equipment even under such straits
The German army administration
was induced to take up the question
of motor truck transportation with a
dual purpose in mind. The authorities
desired to secure an efficient method
of hauling supplies in the even of war,
and of preventing the blockading of
hicles when they desired them open
for the movements of troops.
1t was practically impossible for
the army authorities to maintain suf-
ficiently large quantity of uniform mo-
tor trucks, not only because of the
initial cost of the vehicles but also
because of the impossibilty of keeping
under a flag in times of peace a large
enough number of skilled chauffeurs
to operate the trucks.
These considerations led to the ten
importance as to encourage the pur-
chase of motor trucks by private con-
Germs under conditions which would
enable the government at any time to
draft them for amy purposes with the
certainty that in the meanwhile they
would be kept in perfect running con-
dition and provided with properly
I'm order that the trucks might be
used without damage to the ordinary
roads and bridges of Germany, and at
roads of neighboring countries which
might possibly be invaded, trucks were
prescribed which. when loaded, rang
ed from two tons to FIVE and a half
tons weight on the rear axle None
of the motors subsidized for army use
are less than thirtyfv horsepower.
Trailers also are specified as being par
ticularly desirable for amy use.
The subvention for a single truck
amounts to the sum of s1,190 payable
as follows: \ premium of s42S upon
purchase, followed by four annual pre-
miums of $190.50 for the maintenance
of each vehicle. If three or five-ton
trailer is provided with the truck the
original premium is raised to $714
with annual payments of S2S5 each.
France has adopted much the same
method as that of Germany by paying
heavy premiums to truck purchasers
with the understanding that they are
to revert to the Government for i'm
mediate use in case of war.
Each year these trucks are submit
ted to the military authorities by the
various owners and an exhaustive ex-
animation determines whether or not
they fulfill all of the government re-
quirements. The truck must be con-
structed entirely in France and in a
factory where at least three-fifths OF
the working force are French. 1t must
be in commercial use on French terri
tory. 1t must conform in construction
and equipment with the requirements
laid down by the French military ex-
perts. Upon complying with these reg
ulations the truck owner receives a
bounty aggregating from s1,022 to
s1.S72.
I'm spite of these precautions. which
have been carried on almost since the
inception of the motor truck industry,
an alarming shortage of transportation
facilities has been found by the tre-
mendous armies now in the field. Al
though the levies on motor trucks have
been followed by heavy drafts on
horses. many more trucks are still
needed"