The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-09-20
ADVOCATES TRUCKS
AS MEDIUM FOR
BUILDING HIGHWAY
Chairman Of Transport Com
mittee Says Vehicles and
Roads Are InseparabEe
Parts of Public Service.

firmly believe that the develop
ment OF o construction and the use
otkthe motor truck is the next great
4@lonsl industrial development, said
IN chairman Of the high
May transport committee, Council of
National Defense, in a recent address
~ the National Association OF Motor
Truck sales Managers in PHILADELPHIA.
copy OF his address, which appears
IN bulletin just issued by the high
Gay transport committee Of the United
SaassS council Of National Defense,
u firmly believe that the Develop
ment Of road construction and the use.
OF the motor truck is the next great
national industrial development.
~ mas peen the councils policy not
20 undertake the study OF e~ngineering
features Of road construction nor IL
enter too much into the detail Of how
sthe value of road construction and use
Is to be realized.
Inc council also believes that the
appilcation OF the use Of the truck Is
something which should be properly
ieLt 70 the producers, for 1t Is, in a real
analysis, their business problem.
M Council of National Defense is
MOI sell3ng truckS-We try rather to
sell iueaS. But one of the purposes of
the highways transport committee has
been TO educate the people as to the.
kNSF%A PA0SC u the mOtOT Vehicle as an
agency OF transport in order that it
might seek and maintain the place to
which the usefulness entities It.
Up to Public.
The vehicle and the road must be
demonstrated to be compliments Of
ach other and inseparable parts Of a
great agency Of public service. once
the people thoroughly realize this, they
will demand and have good roads when
ana where they will serve.
we have felt that advocacy OF road
building as such would not have so
good a reaction as education as to
what the roads can really do for the
people.
1T is a fact, however, that the peo-
pie are beginning to understand what
a mean-not as a means of enjoy
ment nor as a convenience, but as a
4 great factor in the economic growth of
the country, They realize that poor
roads mean destruction of the social as
well as the commercial opportunities of
life, and that good roads mean quicker
transportation, cheaper transportation,
a saving of labor, and the consequent
opening of new channels of employ
ment, broader and nearer markets, and
that they are the avenue for a wider
and better social relation.
aid to Farmer.
1T is being realized, moreover, that
TO no class does road Improvement
mean SO much as 1t does to the farmer.
Let the people once understand that
#and we have no fear concerning road
reconstruction.
mo less important than road con-
struction Is provision for road mainte-
nance To build roads without ade-
quate provision for maintenance is an
4 economic waste.
How Is this to be brought about?
without particularizlng too far, It
that In the future the maintenance
u charge should be imposed upon the
traffic n the capital expense involved
in the construction should be extin-
guished by taxation. II at the end Of
the retirement period our roads were
still good, we would have gained that
snnch; and II they were not, we would
~ least have free credit with which we
night build again.
There Is another feature of u
work that is of interest to you who
ere concerned with the future of the
motor truck. 1t Is the declared policy
pf the United States railroad admins
~tration greatly toecurtail the construc-
tion of spun or feeder lines, This at
once opens possibilities to the motor
truck, for the demand for ~transporta-
ton is constantly growing. Some of the
AduIudu huNIl0GIJlDS OptUly duNDCdJG
the establishment Of country truck lines,
especially those running at right angles
to the main rail routes, and ! believe
this entente could be fostered to the
mutual benefit of both parties.
Short Haul Problem.
Some have even invoked the aid
of ourselves and our state committees
in a study of the short-haul problem,
in order that relations Of both rail and
truck thereto might be better under
stood, AND the economic field Of useful
ness Of each be better determined.
I'VE have also endeavored to codify
all we learn on this great subject, to CO.
EAordinate the efforts Of different bodies
all working to the same purpose, and to
act as a clearing house In which may
Of various state highway departments
which may again be disseminated in or
der that all may receive the benefit of
that which is developed by one.
Il am happy to state that under the
authority of the council the committee
is to be continued and is now composed
of representatives of those federal de-
partments most closely connected with
road use and road construction-the
postoffice department, the department
of agriculture and the department OF
=. l. Blakeslee, fourth as
SlSlaIt poSImaSAeT-BeneFal, j. M, GoOu
ell, consulting engineer OF the bureau
OF roads; j. II. Collins, of the bureau
OF markets; DIR. Roy s, MacElwee, as
sistant director Of the bureau of for
cign and domestic commerce; G. b.
Clarkson, director Of the Council of Ma
tional Defense; Charles w. Reid, exec
utive secretary, and myself as chair
man, constitute the committee.
This composition Is a warrant that
the committee has the cooperation and
support of the government departments
named, and, / think as constituted It
is ~singularly well chosen for the work
of the postwar period and | believe
its labors will be broader and more
useful even than before"