Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-05-19
Our Foreign Motor Car
Trade During the War

have gone to Europe for the Amerl-
can army, These do not figure in
the summaries OF exports as pub
lished by the department Of com
merce. But approximately twenty
| thousand trucks have been bought
by the United states army and ten
thousand more ordered uD to the
first Of last February, az which time
requirements were IN sigh, for from
10000 to 5000 moro for which or
ders had not been placed A consld.
erable part Of the first twenty thou
sand had been delivered and sent 10
their destinations. with the re-
sumption of the German offensive
in March the need for redoubed eff
! forts by America indicated tho like
lihood of heavy increases in orders
/ for army trucks.
But for the part performed ny
trucks the building Of tho thirty
army cantonmCnts iu this country
would have required six months ln-
stead of three. Trucks were used in
large numbers fnr building roads In
the cantonments and hauling the
4 enormous quantities Of material
needed. All the war activities In this
country, as well as I'm Europe, have
been expedited 10y the motor car and
motor truck.
Turned to the T.. S. \.
When the motor car factories Of
England aud France were taken over
for the Manufacture Of munitions,
not only these countries, but all the
countries of the world that were al
peace had to depend on the United
states for motor cars, and trucks.
Until the seas were cleared OF tho
German menace by the British anl
French navies, the eXportatiOn of
motor vehicles suffered in common
with all overseas trade. Since then
our export trade in motor cars mas
been maintained at a fairly constant
figure. Notwithstanding the Difficult
! ties of securing shipping space, enor-
nous increases In ocean rates ana
prohibitions against importation 0t
, motor cars by England, France, italy
; and India. 1t has been almost i'm
: : possible to get motor cars ana
trucks into Russia and scandinavian
countries for private account Aus
tralia prohibited importation OF mo,
tor car bodies. but recently modltieo
the prohibition so that u is now
J possible to import two chassis t'
: every complete car.
Motor Vehicle Exports.
During the last three calendal
roara ire exports OF motor vehicles
I have been as follows; l9l5-com
o mercial cars. 22,O94; passenger
t cars. 41.S64: total valuation, s94
S84.se3: 19l6--commercial cars g.,
r e21. passenger cars. 61,922i valua
: tion, se6,673,10S; 19t7-commerclal
S14.34T: passenger. 65.792; valuation
r SSS,347,739. Adding motor car en-
gines. tires and parts, the total eN
g norts of the industry last yea
I amounted to more than sl4O, ,OoO'oV
Il which very nearly equaled the tota
:, exports OF oail railroad locom otlve
, and cars. all electrical machiner
and apparatus and all agricuituta
a machinGry combined. ,.u
= u Use OF motor vehicles IN IN
United States is of secondary import
=, ance only 10 their use IN me wa
) zone in Europe. This is peca use ~ -
= tho critical transportation and foo'
|
i TRANSFORMATION. and motor VehicIe
r az an imnortant factor in transpor
: tation. Earnest efforts are heln'
s. made to relieve railroad and term
e nal congestion by transferring snort
u haul shipments TO the highways.
r rho number OF COMMERCIAL motor
i vehicles opeIatinE in this country !
S anproaching half a million. II u
= estimated that they have an aVeras'
capacit, Of two tons and easily car
e average INV miles n day, includlh-
= The time spent in loading ana uh.
}, l,adinp Thus they have com ulnto
). c,nacitv of 50,000,0O0 tdn-miles dallS
I or IL 100000 900 ton~miles a year
r rhis is a considerable load to takt
ogf ~ the overburdened railroads II
\ ali shinmcats originating wlthln q
n dis,ance Of even 25 miles OF cltie'
r ore handled by trucks. which MAKE
e. deliveries direct to consignee' th'
S railroad freight houses Will ne re,
n iiaveI OF all this miscellaneo1'
small freight that now causes o.
r much terminal CONGESTION
stimulates Food Production.
establishment Of rural motor eN-
,reso lines mas a most important III,
finance in stimulating production %
foodstuffs They give farmers an
assnrod means OF daily commu nIca- ,i
I ,inn ,yith markets and permit thou'
80 do,,nte all their time 10 farm WORK
instead Of wasting q large part oI =, ~
driving long distances To- ma me- me-,
win loads Of produce. There .e "e
already hundreds of such truck n,,,1 ma
! in operation, giving dePendaOIe anu
satisfactory service. .,1 hirn-
Farm labor is scarce and hls,-
nrIced. there has been a steapy
4drain since the war started on nv
4 gpply of horses and mules tnrouEn1
out the world. and oats. corn "i,n ~
wheat have Increased enormously IL
nrice. To Increase production o. hu,
man foods under these condl.lons,
pneans that machinery must ne uSeN
mare extensively in farm Woth. 80 -a,,,
= tor car ana truck manuiaet"i,esl.' ,s. el'
have begun to turn to the nahnI"tG, g..
tire Of farm tractors, which are ="
uraout demand nv European suu"
tries and by the United states, w. Ma,ly
thousands ot such tractors are hoeu-
ed at once .,t,-osa, 4. Is
possible only to summarize the many
Tavs in which the third largest man
ufacturinp industry Of the country rs
contributing abroad and at nome 70
the winning OF the war, The noto,
car Industry stands solidly oehlno
| orr government in Its war progr am
= uI,,n.oared ifg EerVlcea and re-