THE IMMEDIATE NECESSITY FOR MILITARY 



HIGHWAYS 



By A. G. Batchelder 



Executive Chairman American Automobile Association 



EVERY highway in the country now 

 possesses potential military value, 

 for each dollar saved in the cost 

 of transportation counts in the sum total 

 of war saving. The expense per mile in 

 carrying a bale of cotton in Texas or a 

 bushel of wheat in Minnesota to the near- 

 est market or shipping point figures in the 

 cost to him who uses the finished product. 

 While we proudly proclaim on all occa- 

 sions our greatness in every line of de- 

 velopment, we have been woefully dila- 

 tory in giving thought and attention to a 

 subject that is vital to the progress of 

 civilization. In short, millions of dollars 

 annually are being literally thrown into 

 the ditch through careless and decentral- 

 ized management of our highway sys- 

 tem ; and yet we laugh at the thought of 

 any European country trying to compete 

 with us ! 



highway trunk lines essential eor 



rapid transportation oe troops 



and supplies 



From the two and a quarter million 

 miles of road in the United States there 

 should emerge a number of great high- 

 ways, requiring federal consideration in 

 cooperation with the several States, in 

 such manner as to bring forth ultimately 

 a national road system similar to that 

 which has blessed France and added so 

 materially to her wealth, in the proper 

 distribution of her products — aye, and 

 saved her very existence as a nation when 

 the Hun leaped at her throat. 



We are just learning how to select these 

 national highways, relieve the States of a 

 part of their road burdens, and at the 

 same time produce great arteries of com- 

 munication which will fit into a logical 

 plan of nation-wide military defense. 

 Certain of these roads must have a spe- 

 cial military importance ; others will have 

 only an indirect value. The whole system 



constitutes a vast network of thorough- 

 fares, each having its special function in 

 meeting the nation's maximum require- 

 ments. 



When reference is made to a "military 

 highway" it does not follow that this 

 must be a road over which heavy ord- 

 nance will be moved or over which thou- 

 sands of soldiers are to be transported. 

 Our needs for defense in the present 

 emergency are diversified and far-reach- 

 ing and have to do with all means of 

 communication. 



The "second line of defense" is a com- 

 prehensive term. It has been truly said 

 that the practical value of a highway in- 

 creases as its connected mileage multi- 

 plies — town to town, county to county, 

 and State to State — until we link the sev- 

 eral sections and thus engender national 

 understanding and cooperation, ridding 

 ourselves of localisms and even shatter- 

 ing the old disintegrating nightmare of 

 "States' rights." 



A PROBLEM WOULD BE NO GREATER IN 

 DARKEST AFRICA 



Bring to mind a long stretch of road 

 extending from Washington to Atlanta, 

 along which are located six cantonments 

 and training camps, housing nearly 200,- 

 000 soldiers ; picture it as it is, with 

 many disabling and discouraging miles 

 which try man and vehicle to the utmost, 

 practically impassable during inclement 

 weather, punctuated with bog holes and 

 skidding surfaces, alternating between 

 sticky clay and rock - strewn patches, 

 seemingly unimproved since the Civil 

 War. 



Eess than 800 miles separate the cap- 

 ital of the country and the chief commer- 

 cial city of the South. Over a real high- 

 way this distance could be covered in 48 

 motoring hours ; a caravan of self-pro- 

 pelled vehicles could transport a powerful 



477 



