The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1917-07-02
AUTOMOBILE RANKS WITH
RAILROADS AND TELEPHONES
(By John N. Willys. nresident ~

(by John N. WHY'S, president Of
the Willys-Overland company
We give great credit to the infiu-
ence Of the railroads, the telephone,
the telegraph, the wireless. electri-
city and other inventions of compare
lively recent years, but there seems
to class of people averse to giving
the automobile its just deserts.
Starting out as a luxury, a rich
mans toy, the automobile has come
to be an actual necessity, an essen
tial part of our lives
An automobile cannot in justice
be called a pleasure car any longer;
1t Is a vital, economic factor In the
existing order of things.
Think of the businesses the motor
car has built up. 1t has enlarged
the delivery capacity Of the corner
grocery, the butcher shop and the
bakery, not to mention thai of the
big department stores, so that today
a stores activities are not confined
to its immediate neighborhood.
Statesmen in all lines-natches
rubber goods, real estate, insurance
practically every field, whether
wholesale or retail. have increased
their efficiency and their salaries
from so to 100 per cent by the use
of motor cars.
The doctor now visits twice the
number of patients and can go many
times as speedily on emergency calls.
Fire and police departments have
rendered their equipment more eff
Ificient by motorizing them.
IRE -ermer, 100, has felt the in
fuence of the automobile. A motor
car brings his produce to town in
fresher condition, enabling him to
command better price for a sup
|erior product.
1t helps him make his trips to
town more quickly, giving him more
time in the field, and consequently
greater and better crops, yet more
leisure when his days work is done.
Property values have increased
four and five hundredfold. City and
country have been brought closer
together. Today, the former city
dweller resides in the country, sew
eral miles away from the city's grime'I
and congestion, where an automobile
enables him to enjoy simultaneously
the advantages of life in the city and
in the country.
The health of the people has been
benefited Motor cars get people out
into the open. Automobile rides are
recommended by physicians for con-
valescents. Automobile tours, long
or short, are now comparatively in
expensive ways to enjoy holiday
or an extended vacation.
The part of the motor car in the
grim business of war must also be
considered--a business which we
must now confront fairly and square
ly. Had it not been for the auto
mobiles that the French government
commandered to rush its troops |
against the invading Germans, the
battle of the Marine might have had
different outcome. Paris might I
have been taken and the entire COM
plexion of the world war might have
been changed with the possibility of
gravest danger for our national ex-
istence.
Newspaper reports from the battle
fronts tell us that motor transports
have been an important factor in
men and ammunitions from
one point to another. More motor
equipment may be big factor in
deciding this war.
More motor equipment in our bust
ness and in our homes is also going
to increase the efficiency of those
at home. Now Is the time
when we must arrange to do double
duty. We will have to take care of
our own work and the work of our
neighbor who has gone to the front.
Motor cars are helping us at this. An
automobile enables us to make twice
as many calls and to see twice as
many people as before; it enables us
to get to an from our work more
quickly, giving us time to cultivate
truck gardens and small farms either
In our backwards or on small subur-
ban lots that are not ready for build
ing purpose. There are countless
ways in which nearly every individ-
ual can use car to advantage.
Practically every sphere in life,
practically every existing condition
has been touched by the influence
Of this industry, until today the mo-
tor car has come to play as big a
part in our existence as the railroad, ID