The Independent . CTOR OF THE INDEPENDENT-HARPERS WEEKLY MOTOR EFFICIENCY SERVICE WHEN the first excitement ofthe war declaration had some-what subsided, motorists allover the country began to won-der how they could help. Naturallyenough, at the outset, pleasure car andtruck owners expected that their ma-chines would be commandeered by theGovernment. It had happened in Eu-rope and it was a reasonable expecta-tion here, considered superficially, inthe flurry of the moment. Recent announcements from head-quarters, however, have made it plainthat commandeering in general will notbe necessary. In
The Independent . CTOR OF THE INDEPENDENT-HARPERS WEEKLY MOTOR EFFICIENCY SERVICE WHEN the first excitement ofthe war declaration had some-what subsided, motorists allover the country began to won-der how they could help. Naturallyenough, at the outset, pleasure car andtruck owners expected that their ma-chines would be commandeered by theGovernment. It had happened in Eu-rope and it was a reasonable expecta-tion here, considered superficially, inthe flurry of the moment. Recent announcements from head-quarters, however, have made it plainthat commandeering in general will notbe necessary. In Europe the situationwas different from our own. Motor carfactories over there had never beenkeyed up to quantity production. Itwas impossible for them to meet thesuddenly quickened and enlarged de-mand for machines. The only wayFrance and England could get the carswas by seizing those already in opera-tion. In this country we have been mak-ing motors on an enormous scale foryears. Our factories are ready for prac-. UGHT TRUCKS CAN BE OF USE IN MANY WAYS tically any contingency. Last year wemanufactured 1,500,000 machines—al-most twice as many as exist in all othercountries combined. If necessary ouroutput could probably be doubled. Andsince all our makers have agreed to co-operate with the Government in sup-plying its needs, the reason why whole-sale commandeering will not be resort-ed to here is obvious. But while the authorities expect notto be obliged to take possession of allthe cars now running, they have fore-seen that circumstances may makelimited commandeering are certain exposed regions alongour coast to which the railroads wouldbe unable to transport large bodies ofmen quickly and on short notice. Fordefensive purposes, therefore, the WarDepartment recommends that volun-tary motor truck, motor car and motor-cycle companies be formed as soon aspossible in all states—especially inthose along the Atlantic, Gulf and Pa-cific coasts. These volunteer co
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