The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1924-05-01
HIGHWAYS CAN LIMIT
USE OF AUTOMOBILES

(By ROY D. CHAPLIN, Chairman High
ways Committee, National Automo-
bile Chamber of Commerce.
The average American Is a restless
individual. Never quite content with
things as they are, he is always search
Ing for some means to widen his range
of activity and new methods of max
ing both family and business life more
worth while.
Hence it Is not surprising that when
the motor vehicle was first announced
as practical means of transportation,
Immediately he began to study its pos
sibilities and finally to develop Its use.
The story Of how quickly he did it is
one Of the most amazing chapters in
the whole story of the worlds indus
trial progress From 1895 to the close
of 1923 the motor car manufacturers Of
America have been called upon to pro-
duce something more than 20.0O0,0O0
vehicles, of which it is conservative to
say 13,5O0,OOO are now in operation on
American highways and owned and OPP
Grated by Americans. Practically all
of this production has been in the last
eight years, and as we came to the
close of 1923 we found that the output
for the last year was the greatest in
the history Of the industry
What, then, are the limiting factors
which must be taken into considera-
ton when we try to gauge the future
use of the car?
Certainly, there is no reason to be-
lieve that there will be any decrease
in the desire for personal, individual
transportation. That characteristic Is
so deeply embedded in all of US that
we may reasonably assert that the
only limitations are ability to buy and
ability to use.
Each of these themes is text in
itself. and since the purpose of this
article is to deal with the second, we
can dismiss the first with the refec-
tion that in all of the period during
which the American public has been
buying motor cars in mass quantities
savings deposits have continued TO
grow steadily, and everywhere there
is abundant proof that the manufac-
ture and use of the car have only
broadened the productive and purchas-
ing power of the public.
The second question provides us
with definite physical problem which
can only be answered in terms Of miles
Of highways,
It is pertinent, then, to examine our
present road facilities and to see what
is planned for the future. Prelimi-
nary estimates of the total rural high
way mileage of the United States, as
reported to the United States bureau
of public roads, show that there were
2.941. 294 miles of road of all types In
the country on January 1, 1922. OF
this there were some thousands of
miles which were roads only in the
legal sense that section lines had been
so designated.
Perhaps the most valuable figures
are those which show that at the end
of 1923 there were about 100000 miles
of all types of surfaced highways, be-
ginning with sand-clay and ending
with the highest types of heavy-duty
surface, which perhaps constitute 35,-
600 miles all told.
In other words, if we eliminate city
streets there are thirty-one motor We
hicles to every mile of improved high
way In the United States, and when
we consider that 50 per cent of all the
cars of the country are used in COM
munities Of 5000 or less, we can OBJ
tain some idea of the problem which
Is facing the road builders of the coun-
try If they are to keep pace with the
production and use of the car
Fortunately, there is plenty of evil
dence on all sides that the general
public, the legislators and the builders
who represent them all appreciate the
need for more roads and all are join
ing in making them possible.
For example, there is the federal
highway act, passed in 1916, and made
an effective instrument for the organ
ization of main state systems through
the amendments of 1921.
Under its provisions each state has
set I'D a highways department, and a
two-year Job of designating the per
cent of the total rural mileage which
comprises the federal aid program IN
each state has been completed, so that
we now have an actual INSTALLATION
Of the program ahead.