Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-03-15
HOW AUTO INDUSTRY
HELPED TO WIN WAR

CONTINUED from First Pagc.1
of trucks to the allied governments
for use in the war, and Howard E.
Coffin had initiated the work of
| gathering data on the manufactur-
| ing resources and facilities of the
country. The outgrowth of Collins
plans and work was the creation
later by the President of the Council
of National Defense, which organized
state councils of defense and per-
| formed most valuable services for
the country. Under it the aircraft
board, which later became a separate
organization, started the work that
resulted in the development of the
Liberty airplane motor by automo-
| bile and aero engineers.
Later the highways transport COM
mittee of the Council of National De-
fense was organized, with Roy ID.
Chaplin, as chairman. 1t performed
tremendously important work in
stimulating the use of the highways
in a way to relieve freight and term
inal congestion and encourage in
creased production and shipment of
/ food. AS means to these ends ii en-
couraged the organization of rural
motor express lines, started the re-
turn loads bureau movement and
proposed the storedoor delivery sys-
tenn, with the. object of reducing con-
geStion at railroad terminals and
making transportation of goods and
! farm products by highway more eff
| ficient and economical. The commit
tee also laid out routes from Ohio,
Michigan, Illinois and northern New
: York for the trDinC tr1Ipk c
which were driven overland to At
lantic ports for overseas shipment to
| the American eXpeditlonary forces.
For the purpose of bringing about
close cooperation between all
branches of the autom otiVe industry,
the automotive products committee
was formed in 1917, with Charles
! ACfifton, presffent of the Pierce-Ar-
row Motor Car Company, as chair
man. succeeded later by II. l.. Horn
ling if the Waukesha Motor Company.
Last year the War Industries Board,
created by order of the President,
took over much of the work OF the
Council of National Defense, includ-
ing that of the Automotive Products
committee, which was incorpor-
ated in the board as one of it's nu-
merous sections. In the early sum-
Hanch was appointed chief of the
automotive products section.
In this position Mr.. Hanch was
Instrumental in administering the
rulings of the War Industries Board
under it's agreements with the auto
mobile and truck industries when
the demand for war articles and the
consequent shortage of metals and
other materials became acute, in a
spirit of loyalty to the government
and fairness to all companies, large
and small that won for him the high
regard of the members of the board
and of the industry as a whole.
The National Automobile Chamber
of Commerce, as the representative
organization of the automobile and
motor truck industry, performed a
most active and effective part in war
time activities. In 1917 it opened
branch offices in Washington the
better to cooperate with govern
mental departments and bureaus and
appointed a war service committee
consisting of John n. WHY'S, George
NJ. Graham, II. III. Rice and Alfred
Reeves, with Hugh Chalmers as
chairman. The National Automobile
Chamber of Commerce engaged a
corps Of engineers and, acting as
the medium of contact and informa-
ton between the industry and the
War Department, helped to direct
the purchasing bureaus to facilities
for the production of war materials,
the contracts for which aggregated
the colossal figure of more than ST.
000, 100000 at the time the armis-
tice was signed.
In conference with the War In
n cfria rd he cnrvinn
mittee, after meetings of the indus
try, reached agreements to reduce
the production of passenger auto
mobiles 80 per cent. from schedule
in March. 1918, and SO per cent.
from the 1917 rate of production for
the last half of last year.
A national motor truck committee,
with George NJ. Graham as chairman
and Windsor T. White, David S. Lud-
lum, David c. Fenner, M. L. Pull
cher and S. A. Miles as other men,
bers, was organized to cooperate
with the highways transport COM
mittee and otherwise represent the
motor truck industry in Washington.
The committee was very active in
pushing the rural motor express
and return loads bureau ideas and
in assisting the War Industries
Board and branches of the War De-
partment by suggestions and recon-
mendations, collections of data, etc.
Before the end of the war many
automobile companies were devoting
their facilities entirely to war work
and all passenger car makers were
endeavoring to comply with the
urgent recommendation of the War
Industries Board that they get ON
100 per cent. war basis by January
1, 1919. They were producing a
long list of war articles having little
or no relation to the manufacture
of automobiles. Among the more i'm
portant articles for which large con-
tracts were taken were airplanes,
motors, parts and bombs. tractors,
tanks, escort wagons, water carts,
trailers, artillery wheels, 10 and 1855
Nm. shells. depth bombs, grenades,
mine anchors, gun carriages and re-
coil mechanisms, naval gun mounts,
submarine chasers, torpedo direc-
tors, balloon winches, litters, etc.
1 -xa1o oY,tt tfs,p pf,,x- l. i