The Jan. 11, NYT prints a letter to the editor concerning the upcoming Auto Show in New York City's Madison Square Garden:

Possibly no invention ever installed itself as a vital institution in the life of the world as quickly and as firmly as the automobile. It is not many years ago that we were wont to stare and gape at it in passing with much the same bewilderment that we now bestow upon a balloon or a submarine boat. The automobile is an absolute fixture. It filled a want, and when that want became evident the development of the automobile was assured. No more striking testimony is needed than the standardization of parts by manufacturers, which goes far to prove the thorough organization of the automobile business.

The automobile, unlike many inventions, owes its speedy development to the fact that it is the product of many mechanics, engineers, capitalists, and sporting men - all aiming at one central idea, a speedy, strong, and easily controlled road wagon. There have been many ingenious ideas advanced, including not a few madcap theories, but as is the case with every evolution, be it animal or mechanical, there has been a survival of fitness. We see that fitness embodied in the present motor car, which is notable for the absence of freak ideas. It is a sane machine.

Thank goodness the federal government wasn't involved with the development of the automobile.