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Show AUTD !S B!Q FACTOR Importance of Motor Indus-try Indus-try in Fight Told by John N. Willys. CITES DANGER AHEAD Advises Auto Makers to Speed Up Government Contract Work. By JOHN N. WILLYS. The war has given opportunity for a groat deal of platform oratory, and, as always happens under similar circumstances, circum-stances, a variety of theories are advanced, ad-vanced, some of which are highly practical prac-tical and some of which need only d moment's mo-ment's consideration to convince one that the orator has not given the subject anv real thought and consideration. We have on our hands today the most important job that any nation ever had, and it is essential that we analyze careful care-ful I v the various theories which have hi'oii advanced. Then we must follow onlv the course which will be of benefit to "this nation in this war with Ger-manv Ger-manv instead of through ignorance and lack' of consideration finding ourselves working for the kaiser. We must thrash the kaiser thoroughly. The point at issue is how best to do it. Points Out Danger. While the manufacturers of this country coun-try have practically unanimously notified noti-fied the government that they are anxious anx-ious to help in the production of materials ma-terials for war, there is, however, no wav of determining as yet to what degree de-gree war essentials w-ill absorb the entire en-tire productivity of the country. a .... Qtt,iinnt' tn direct nuhlie. pur chase's beyond this limit of war essen-' essen-' tials might easily work a grievous hardship hard-ship on many industries. If thousands of people were thrown out of employment employ-ment a depression would be created which might be reflected immediately in the public attitude toward the war. We cannot fight the kaiser and hard times at the same time. We require prosperity in this country with which to win this war. if that prosperity does not interfere with the manufacture of munitions. Is it not, therefore, wisest for us to follow the policy of filling the government govern-ment contracts "with the utmost speed and keep the Test of our productivity coing in accord with public demands, so that the vast army of the American people at home are in a position to support sup-port the government with a spirit of optimism, and also with enough inoney to help market the bond issues which are coming up from time to time! I refer now to the broad interests of all American industry. The automobile industry in which I am personally interested in-terested is so firmly established as a part of the great transportation system of this country that those who know the part it plays consider it one of the fundamental essentials of this country todav. But there are other industries which have been classed by unthinking people as non-essentials. I believe such classifications are pernicious and dangerous. dan-gerous. Essentials May Differ. What is essential to me may not be so to you. As a matter of fact, you may say that even the clothes you have on 'your back and the boots you wear are non-essential, because the Xorth American Indians lived here in the same climate for thousands of years without fhem. Similar comment might be made concerning many industries. I believe the public is capable of deciding de-ciding what is essential to them, and we should, after war needs are properly supported, let the people alone to make their own choice of their requirements. To illustrate how impossible it is for any man to determine hii neighbor's requirements. re-quirements. I wae talking the other day' to a man who was inclined to refer to motor cars as a non-essential while he regarded the railroad as a necessity. That man did not know that several of his neighbors were saving many dollars dol-lars every year by traveling from their country homes to town in their cars instead in-stead of by railroad. He did not know the motor car is taking an even greater part in the pioneer pio-neer development of the country than is the railroad. Nor did he know that the seating capacity of automobiles in this country is greater than that of the railroads. Little Pleasure Driving. He had not been informed that the pleasure driving of automobiles is less than 13 per cent probably less than the pleasure riding on trains and trolleys. trol-leys. He had not considered that every automobile au-tomobile parked downtown in our cities represents a man or woman on some -time-saving business event or that the 2,700,000 automobiles in rural communities communi-ties are transporting millioirs of pounds of produce daily, bringing farms nearer to town and saving millions of hours for productive time to farmers who formerly had to master their transportation transporta-tion problems "with horses. I point out these things about my business just to show you how mistaken a man may be in his opinion about the necessity of any industry. Above all times, this is a good time for every man to weigh his remarks and stick to those things about -which he is informed. |