they might carry their share of the war burden, the Highways Transport
Committee was appointed by, and forms a part of, the Council of
National Defense._

_The object of the committee is to increase and render more effective
all transportation over the highways as one of the means of
strengthening the Nation's transportation system and relieving the
railroads of part of the heavy short-haul freight traffic burden._

_National policies are directed from the headquarters of the national
committee in Washington to the highways transport committees of the
several State Councils of Defense. These State organizations, which by
proper subdivisions reach down through the counties to the
communities, are grouped together into 11 regional areas, as shown by
the map used above. The State committees of the different areas are
assisted by and are under the direct supervision of the 11 regional
chairmen of the Highways Transport Committee, Council of National
Defense._

COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE.

HIGHWAYS TRANSPORT COMMITTEE.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

ADDRESS BY HON. FRANKLIN K. LANE, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR,
BEFORE THE CONFERENCE OF REGIONAL CHAIRMEN OF
THE HIGHWAYS TRANSPORT COMMITTEE,
SEPTEMBER 17, 1918.

I did not come to-day with the idea of bringing you anything new. On
the contrary, I have come here to get the inspiration which
association with those from the outside gives. There is no hope for
this place unless we can keep in contact with the remainder of the
United States. In isolation we think in a vacuum, and it is only when
we know what you are thinking of on the outside that we get the
impulse which leads to construction. I think I can say out of my
knowledge of 12 years of administrative work in this city, that we
have to look abroad, go up on the tops of the hills and see the great
valleys of our country, before we know really what our policies should
be. When we live alone or live in isolation and try to deal with
things abstractly or theoretically we make mistakes.

The problem that you deal with is one that I have never had any
contact with, but I know this from my knowledge of history; that you
can judge the civilization of a nation, of a people, of a continent,
or of any part of a nation, by the character of its highways. If you
will think over that proposition you will realize that what I have