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Show f How Automobile I Contributed to I Wealth of Country j .he extent to which the automobile has contributed to the wealth of the 1 country in comparison with other utilities utili-ties is shown by review of the various rtages of our commercial evolution. From 1790 to 1900. the wealth of the United States increased from $619,200,- to ?sx,r.l7.37,O0u, :.n increase of $87,89?.107,000. This period Included the invention of the cotton gin; installation of first steam engines, steamboats; establishment establish-ment of textile and leather industries, invention of the reaper; general use of coal, formation of transcontinental express lines; development of clipper ships and iron steamboat:-; building of transcontinental railroad lines; in- I ventlon and use of telegraph and sewing sew-ing machines; discoveries of large an-ihmrite an-ihmrite coal and gold deposits, alo petroleum; development of wool industry, in-dustry, establishment of steel industry; indus-try; the seri'-ral application of steam power; installation of telephones, development de-velopment of clothing industry, also boot and shoe industry, general application appli-cation of electricity for the operation of machinery and street railways; and formation of large corporations. This was up to the period of 1900 From that year until 1918. a period of eighteen vears, the wealth of the United States increased from $S8,517,-307.000 $S8,517,-307.000 to $250,000,000,000. an increase of $161,482,693,000 The Increase in this eighteen-year period was almost twice the increase In the 110-year period In the years 1900 and 1918, the principal prin-cipal ehanpes in our conir--ercial life were due io ihe introduction of wireless; wire-less; the beginning ol foreign irade; development of siandaPlisatioD of manufacturing, and the manufacture and general adoption of the automobile automo-bile for transportation purposse. It has been said, a community advances ad-vances only so far as their transportation transporta-tion facilities allow them to do. If they are restricted by certain limits of transportation, their business growth is restricted Jhla leads to the though: as to how dracb the automobile as a reimportation medium has had to do with the very unusual growth in the pi riod from 1900 to 1918. What Is true of the commercial d r vclopment in the United States is Iflte-- Iflte-- Be true to a great extent in Canada, bur it has been during the past ten years that the development of natural resources has stimulated industrial activities ac-tivities to such an extent as to appreciably appre-ciably increase the national -wealth and add greatly to the economic strength of the country. While it Is true that without the automobile there would have been ma-, terial development In the two coun- j tries due to the Introduction and use .,! ih,' many impro '-'I ut little: an : methods, it is obvious that the fulle-t lvalue or usefulness of these Inovationsj could not have been secured without the aid of motor-propelled vehicles. I And so to the automobile is rightly due a major share of the credit for I the development of natural resources, the expansion of our industries and the increase in our wealth. . As to the future, it is safe to predict pre-dict that the wealth of both the United States and Canada will increase with the extensive and more general use of motor transportation. For, as has been stated above, a community develops only to the ex tent to which transportation facilities permit. And as motor transportation is the most efficient and adequate method of conveyance, It is logical that il will provo a more indispensable indispensa-ble factor in the years to come Chevrolet Chev-rolet Review. |