Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-05-05
GREAT FIELD OPEN
FOR MOTOR TRAFFIC
Government Cooperation Will
Be Feature of This Phase of
Trade Development.
HAPHAzARD PERIOD OVER

An article on motor trade lanes and
government cooperation. by Henry F.
McNair, in Motor Life. touches with
splendid understanding on the nations
needs in national highways and what
Uncle Sam has done. To quote the
writer:
"One Of the most plausible postulates
Of leechcraft is that man is 8 old as
bis arteries. Not to be disproved is
the corollary that, with an occasional
new set of blood tubes. his juven-
escence would be perpetual. Nor does
that school Of medicine which pre-
ecribes a little red pill for the right
4onsil and yellow one for the left
take issue with so specious a guest.
Even the. scientists, God bless 'em.
tonable matter until they. have read
the error out of arteriosclerosis.
Something of this same sort of afro
ply has attracted our commercial ar
feries of steel, as the recent war ca
pacity test of shipping has elucidated
to the most case-hardened stock jobber
While the Esculapians of rate regula-
lister a red pill or yellow, the patient
passed into a state of coma from which
nothing short of a superhuman effort
on the part of a specialist could arouse
Will Prove Staggering Contract.
"A big man has been drafted for the
lob. but even Miracle Worker McAdoo
will find it quite the most staggering
contract he has ever undertaken, COM
pared to which the joining of Man
haitian to Jersey was a child's play.
But the dictum of the doctors may
not be so impracticable if we apply it
to these commercial arteries. Here is
the remedy: Rejuvenate trade by
bringing new channels of business life
into play! We have vast system of
completion. parts of which have al
ready been selected for government
experimentation. Let an army of mo-
tor trucks rush to the aid of the over
worked railroads and the sick BUSH
ness of the country will soon be on
the road to a complete recovery.
New methods must be devised to
when the war has been won we will
md that fields have opened to us re-
curing our best energy and accumu-
content to go back to the Anticipated
and unavoidable systems of yesteryear.
Need Uniform Regulations.
'The field for motor traffic is wide;
the need for the immediate develop
mcnt of trade lanes is urgent. The
drift lines of commerce must know no
sectional lines: must meet with no OBJ
struction from the conflicting laws Of
states. counties or townships. In short.
the principal highways must be feder-
allied for war and continue so for
peaceful prosperity. Uniform regula-
tions for motor trucks and passenger
cars must be enacted that will give the
regard to the rights of individuals and
the preservation of the highways and
bridges. Hardly two states in the
Union today have the same rules as to-
in the recent trial run from Detroit to
Baltimore it was found that but one
state had law requiring roads to be
cleared of snow. and that the major
never heard Of 1t:
"At last the machinery of the govern
ment Is in motion. not to be easily
ho 1pn Several routes from the
great lakes to the seaboard have been
mapped out and truck caravans have
passed over them on trial trips. 1t has
not been the policy Of the government
various routes chosen or just how
many and how often the truck trains
will pass over them. The first route
was laid out from Detroit to Baltimore
by way Of Pittsburgh and Hagerstown:
the second from Buffalo to New York
and Baltimore, via Albany and Phila-.
delphia.
Survey Of Improved Roads.
while herculean efforts are being
made to keep these roads in repair.
other lines are being mapped out, and
within year co-ordinated system of
trunk lines for the carrying Of freight
best adapted to motor trucking will be
completely planned. Meantime. the
department of public roads Is making
a belated survey of all the improved
roads in the country, with particular
data on the strength of bridges and
culverts. width of roadway and con-
dition thereof. This information, with
completed geological survey, will be
invaluable in determining the most
Iaa ho ct nd nj of