The plan, which is that of Carl Fisher and James Allison of the Indianapolis motor speedway, is to furnish material at a cost of about $12,000,000 free to the counties through which the road will pass, the counties to pay only for the cost of construction. The route is to be selected by a commission to be chosen by an organization of automobile manufacturers, and the road will be constructed under the supervision of government engineers, according to the promoters.

As proposed, automobile manufacturers and dealers will be asked to give one-third of one per cent of their gross receipts for three years, the money to be held in trust and repaid with interest in case the project is a failure.

The proposal, considered one of the most extensive in connection with the good roads movement, was received with enthusiasm by the Indiana manufacturers.

It is proposed to have everything in readiness for the commencement of the work January 1, 1913, and to have the highway across the country completed by April 1, 1913, when an effort will be made to organize thousands of automobilists for a cross country tour to the Panama exposition.

The plan, as originally outlined by Carl G. Fisher of Indianapolis and his associates, provides for the purchase of materials for the building of a stone highway from New York to San Francisco to be completed in time for general use to the Panama Exposition in 1915. It will take ten million dollars to provide $5,000 worth of material for each mile--but one-tenth of the amount has already been secured and the surface has not been scratched.

"We'll do it," says Mr. Fisher. "The only thing that I am anxious about is getting the job done in time for the big fair."

F. A. Sieberling, President of the Goodyear, voices the general attitude of manufacturers toward the project. "The need of a national highway from coast to coast," said Mr. Sieberling, "has been so obvious that its possibility, in fact; its almost definite assurance, seems to be the most natural thing in the world. The plan proposed by C. G. Fisher of Indianapolis is the first practical plan, to my knowledge, that has been advanced.

"In pledging its pro-rata of approximately $300,000, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. feels that they have done nothing remarkable or unselfish. We look upon the pledge as a movement on which we will expect to realize dividends. The fact that the industry is supporting this move argues, to my mind, that the manufacturers look upon the project in the same light.

"In my opinion, this move will succeed--it deserves to succeed, and the men behind it are calculated to see that anything they back gets its desserts. In other words, they are business men--and it takes business men, not politicians, to do all of the really big things of today."

This is the biggest project ever undertaken in the automobile world. The original plans, which are the result of months of study on the part of Carl G. Fisher and James A. Allison, president and secretary respectively of the Prest-O-Lite Company and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, have been carefully examined by leading manufacturers and financiers all over the country, and have been endorsed by them as being safe, sound and entirely possible of execution. Within thirty minutes after the project was explained by Mr. Fisher at a banquet in Indianapolis recently, a sum of over $300,000 had been pledged by automobile manufacturers and dealers of the Hoosier capital alone. Those connected with the automobile industry in other cities and states have not been slow in responding and the temporary committee composed of Carl G. Fisher and James A. Allison, which is now in charge of the business of the project, reports that there is no apparent reason why the enterprise should not be carried to a successful completion. Bonded trust companies will be appointed to receive pledge payments as they are made and not a dollar of this money is to be spent until the entire fund of $10,000,000 or more is guaranteed. In case there is any reason whatsoever the ocean to ocean highway project should not be realized, the money already subscribed will be returned to the original donors three per cent interest added. All expenses incidental to the promotion of the plan are to be met by Mr. Allison and Mr. Fisher personally, up to the point where the venture is either a success or a failure.

The thing which stands out prominently in connection with the ocean to ocean highway, and differentiates it from other good road movements started in the past, is the fact that the expenses for the building of the road will be borne entirely by automobile and accessory manufacturers, dealers and owners. Manufacturers and dealers will pledge themselves to contribute to the fund being raised for this purpose, the assessment being one-third of one per cent of their gross earnings for three years, or one-fifth of one per cent of their gross earnings for five years, as will be decided later by the National Committee. Automobile owners are given a chance to contribute to the fund by taking out memberships in the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway Association, these memberships to cost $5, $100, or $1,000.

In this way the road can be built without expense to the general tax payers of the country. Politics have been entirely eliminated from the scene and there will be no political battles or wrangles to interfere with the progress of the road. Crushed rock and other material necessary for the building of the highway will be delivered to the points where it is to be used. Contracts will be closed with the counties through which the road passes, these counties to take charge of the construction work under the supervision of United States government engineers.

It has been figured that this plan of funding the purchase of material and the later incidentals to building the road will result in a gigantic saving as contrasted with the ordinary method of road construction. Taking as a route the best rock roads in northern Indiana and northern Ohio, the ocean to ocean highway, which will cost $10,000,000, will in reality be worth $35,000,000, since private contractor's profits, usually from $300 to $1,000 a mile will be saved.

But the present idea of a national highway rests upon a stable basis. It owes its origin to business men who have proved themselves by action rather than words. Its every detail is firmly anchored to a sound business principle and the expense of the project has been levied in such a way that it will not prove burdensome even to those who will profit most by its realization.

At a casual glance one might say that a transcontinental highway would be of benefit to only automobile manufacturers, dealers and owners. That this class will derive a special benefit from such a highway is a fact that cannot be denied, and it is also true that the fund necessary for the building is to be borne entirely by this class. But there is another truth which is also worthy of emphasis--an economic truth which will be far greater in its result than the pleasure or profit which such a highway will bring to the few. This is the fact that, if a highway is built across the continent, there is no class in America which will not profit thereby.

It has been generally conceded that the automobile industry is still in its infancy. As it is, the industrial world has been almost revolutionized by the introduction of the motor car. It has created a demand for skilled labor such as never existed before. It has caused towns to take on new life and to become cities. It has given thousands of men the opportunity of making an honest livelihood, and has exerted an influence which has not been rivaled even by the steam engine.

If this much has been done in twelve years or so, and if the industry is now only a lusty youngster, what must be the result if it is given such stimulation as an ocean to ocean highway will give it? One great enterprise only serves to create others, as has already been demonstrated with the manufacture of automobiles and accessories. There is no limit to the possiblities which the extended manufacture and sale of the automobile will bring about, and those men who are striving for its advancement are pioneers of a movement which will serve to make ideal the industrial conditions of America.

And then again, there is another phase of the question which is broad in its appeal and worthy of more than passing notice. This is the effect which one good road spanning the continent from coast to coast will have upon the other roads of the country.

It is a lamentable fact that for the most part the roadways of America are not good. Some few states have seen to it that their legislators have appropriated sufficient funds for the building of good highways. Other states are trying to secure the enactment of similar measures, but it is to be regretted that conditions generally are not what they should be. An ocean to ocean highway would serve to create a general interest in good roads. Give the farmers of the country a sample of what benefits are to be derived from such a highway, and they will be the first to set about making the tributary roads equal to the national thoroughfare.

The plan under present consideration is a big one, but with interest in it at a fever heat, and men behind it who know how to secure big results in orderly and systematic way, there is no reason why all the fundamental arrangements should not be completed within a few months, and the road itself an acuality by 1915, the time set by those whose ideas have gone into making a success of the benture. It is a project which is free from politics; the money for it is being subscribed by those who can afford it, and the completion of the road will result in benefit for the many. There is no class distinction here, and all encouragement should be given to the enterprise.

e-mail	Lincoln Highway newspaper articles

Peter Youngman, 10 Cedar Ct., Ogden Dunes IN 46368-8709