July 1, 1912.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



469 



AUTO TRUCKS FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE. 



THE United States Army has been experimenting for 

 some time with the auto-truck as a means of con- 

 veving army supplies. These experiments have as a 

 whole been very satisfactory, proving beyond argument 

 the superiority, both from the standpoint of increased 

 efficiency and of decreased expense, of motor trucks 

 over that venerable but leisurely and not always reliable 

 institution, the army mule. The India Rubber World, 

 in its issue of November last, mentioned the experiments 

 tried b\- General George T. E. Bliss in southern Cali- 

 fornia. As a result of his tests he reported that in his 

 opinion the time had come for the adoption of the motor 

 truck for military service, and its gradual substitution 

 for the escort wagon. 



But the English War Department has gone a step 

 further. It has given long and serious consideration to 

 a plan for subsidizing all the motor wagons owned by 

 private persons in England under an agreement by which 

 they could all be purchased for a fixed sum by the gov- 

 ernment, whenever in the opinion of the war minister 

 thev were needed for national defense. The scheme 

 considered by the department divides commercial 

 vehicles into two classes — those capable of carrying a 

 load of three tons at a speed of ten miles an hour and 

 those capable of carrying half that weight at a speed of 

 twelve miles an hour. The plan includes an initial pay- 

 ment of $40 or $50, to be followed by an annual payment 

 of about $70 to the owners of the trucks. 



There are obvious reasons why the adoption of this 

 plan should be much more desirable in England than in 

 the United States. In the first place England is much 

 more liable to foreign invasion than we are, with 3,000 

 miles of the Atlantic on one side and 5,000 miles of the 

 Pacific on the other. Furthermore in England the dis- 

 tances are short and the roads highly developed, while 

 with us the reverse is true in both cases. In the almost 

 unthinkable event of serious foreign invasion of our terri- 

 tory, the railroads would have to be relied upon mainly 

 for the work of transportation, owing to our great dis- 

 tances. But for local use undoubtedly the auto-truck 

 would come conspicuously into play. 



It is doubtful if our own war department has given 

 much earnest consideration to any plan of subsidizing 

 American motor vehicles, but it is undoubtedly watching 

 with interest these developments abroad. The commer- 

 cial auto-car in reality does not need any government 

 subsidy in this country to insure its popularity. The 



growth of production in this particular line has been 

 very rapid. The United States census of 1905 showed 

 only 822 of these vehicles in the whole country. Five 

 years later the number had increased to 5,510; and the 

 present number of commercial motor vehicles is esti- 

 mated at close to 25,000; and it is a safe prophecy that 

 this increase will go on indefinitely ; for the superiority 

 of the motor wagon over the horse-drawn vehicle is 

 quite as obvious in times of peace as in times of war. 



DO WE EXPORT BAD MANNERS? 



THAT intrepid scaler of lofty mountain peaks, ^liss 

 Annie Peck, in an address which she made be- 

 fore the first Pan-American Trade Conference re- 

 cently held in New York, had this to say among other 

 interesting things : 



'Tn regard to the trade between the Unted States 

 and South America, this counfy needs several things. 

 It needs ships, a knowledge of the Spanish language 

 and good manners." 



She went on further to observe that "the people of 

 the United States are noted in South American coun- 

 tries for their bad manners. The commercial men 

 who are sent there do not appreciate their Latin tem- 

 perament. They do not inform themselves about the 

 countries they visit. They look upon the great South 

 American cities as small towns." 



If this were the first time that this charge had ever 

 been made it might be possible to pass it by with our 

 customary American indifference, notwithstanding the 

 fact that Miss Peck is an observing person who has 

 spent many years in South America, devoted not only to 

 mountain climbing, but to making the acquaintance 

 of the people of the Southern Continent. But, in view 

 of the fact that this same charge has been made many 

 times before, it seems safe to assume that there must 

 be at least a considerable proportion of truth in it. 



Our South American trade is not what it ought to 

 be. In the June issue of this publication we gave a 

 brief table referring to rubber exports which showed 

 that American rubber goods, including belting, hose 

 and packing, boots and shoes, tires, and every other 

 rubber product of our mills consumed by the people 

 of Brazil during 1911, amounted only to $150,000 in 

 value. This is certainly a very meagre showing, con- 

 sidering the fact that the territory of Brazil is nearly 

 nine-tenths that of the entire L'^^nited States. Obvi- 



