Applying Win-the-War Policy 
to the Automobile 
A Letter to Overland Dealers: 
Toledo, Ohio, Oct. 1st, 1918 
UR first consideration, as it is 
yours—and that of evei^ right 
thinking citizen — is “win-the- 
war.” 
Immediately following the American 
Declaration of War, we offered our 
production capacity, and the Gov¬ 
ernment is using a very large part 
of it. 
We are ready if need be to devote it 
entirely to war work. 
The Automobile Industry as a whole 
is on a similar win-the-war basis. 
We are building only a limited quantity 
of automobiles. 
How many cars conditions will permit 
us to build for any future period is 
problematical — dependent wholly 
upon the urgency of war needs. 
Any existing transportation must be 
used to its fullest capacity in order 
to increase the diminishing man¬ 
power of our home forces. 
The total output of automobiles is 
fast becoming insufficient to replace 
cars wearing out in service. 
And fewer cars rather than more is 
the production outlook. 
With “win-the-war” our first con¬ 
sideration — and yours — this con¬ 
dition places a responsibility upon 
us which we are bound to fulfill. 
★ ★ ★ 
Because it has assumed its trans¬ 
portation burdens so gradually 
few realize the extent to which 
the automobile is performing 
essential service. 
—so essential that the rest of the 
system, railroads, trolleys and 
every other means of transpor¬ 
tation that could be pressed into 
service, would be wholly in¬ 
adequate quickly to assume the 
load were automobiles suddenly 
not available’ for the perform¬ 
ance of their usual service. 
In even so essential a matter as our 
food supply the automobile is a 
most important factor. 
liyiY war-time conception 
of the automobile is 
that it is simply a given 
number of miles of rapid 
transportation. 
It goes into service as a 
unit of our national trans¬ 
portation system. 
In placing our restricted 
output of these units of our 
national transportation sys¬ 
tem in the hands of individ¬ 
uals, 1 want our distributors 
and dealers to discern the 
uses to which they will be 
put and to place each unit 
where it will best serve in 
the winning of the war. 
Few realize that over half the auto¬ 
mobiles now in use are owned by 
and serve the people of the farms 
upon whom we and our Allies are 
dependent for food. 
Farm labor is already scarce. . 
Lack of automobiles to serve our 
• farmers would mean a loss of 
untold hours of productive farm 
labor. 
Lack of automobiles to serve our 
loyal industrial workers would 
seriously hamper our industrial 
efficiency. 
Lack of automobiles for those who 
direct and serve our essential 
workers would hamper our na¬ 
tional efficiency as a people. 
★ ★ ★ ★ 
It is time for public appreciation 
of the fact that every mile that 
an automobile is driven need¬ 
lessly is a mile of wasted trans¬ 
portation that ultimately may 
be needed for essential service. 
• It is time for public understanding 
that these smaller units of our trans¬ 
portation system should be used 
and maintained with the same 
thought for national needs as we 
demand in the use and maintenance 
of our larger units of transportation. 
Failure on our ‘ part to take every 
means available for us to inform 
the public concerning the import¬ 
ance of this matter would be neg¬ 
lecting an opportunity to perform 
a valuable public service and a 
failure to live up to our win-the-war 
policy in a vital respect. 
Let us, as automobile manufacturers, 
and you, as automobile dealers, put 
ourselves on a one-hundred-percent 
win-the-war basis. 
Let us to the full extent of our influ¬ 
ence put the war-importance of the 
automobile fully before the public— 
you in your contact with the public 
—^we in the public print. 
Let us to the fullest extent realize 
that when we sell an automobile 
we are in reality selling miles 
of transportation—^ placing a 
unit of our national transpor¬ 
tation system in the service of 
an individual. 
Let us intelligently discern the 
uses to which it will be put and 
place each unit where it will 
best serve in the winning of 
the war. 
In this spirit of full co-operation we 
can bring about a fuller under¬ 
standing and appreciation of the 
situation and its trend, and per¬ 
form a service of value to the whole 
people. 
