What's Gasoline?

The summary of the report of the Congressional Horseless Carriage Committee. (1875)

   “A new source of power, which comes from a distillate of kerosene called gasoline, has been
produced by a Boston engineer. Instead of burning the fuel under a boiler, it is exploded inside the
cylinder of the engine.  This so-called internal combustion engine may be used under certain
conditions to supplement steam engines. Experiments are underway to use an engine to propel a
vehicle.
   This discovery begins a new era in the history of civilization. It may someday prove to be more revolutionary in the development of human society than the invention of the wheel, the use of
metals, or the steam engine.  Never in history has society been confronted with power so full of
potential danger and at the same time so full of promise for the future of man and for the peace of
the world.
   The dangers are obvious.  Stores of gasoline in the hands of the people interested primarily in
profit, would constitute a fire and explosive hazard of the first rank.  Horseless carriages propelled
by gasoline engines might attain speeds of 14 or even 20 miles per hour.  The menace to our
people of vehicles of this type hurtling through our streets and along our roads and poisoning our atmosphere would call for prompt legislative action even if the military and economic implications
were not so overwhelming.  The Secretary of War has testified before us and has pointed out the destructive effects of the use of such vehicles in battle.  A few of them with a small cannon
mounted behind a steel shield could decimate infantry, break up a cavalry charge, and even
seriously threaten the efficacy of field artillery by lightning-like flank attacks.  Furthermore, our
supplies of petroleum, from which gasoline is extracted only in limited quantities, make it
imperative that the defense forces should have first call on the limited supply.  Furthermore, the
cost of producing it is beyond the financial capacity of private industry, yet the safety of the nation
demands that an adequate supply should be produced.  In addition, the development of this new
power may displace the use of horses, which would wreck our agriculture.  We therefore earnestly recommend that Congress set up a Horseless Carriage Commission, which will have complete
control over all sources of gasoline and similar explosive elements and all activities connected with
their development and use in the United States.
   These measures may seem drastic and far-reaching, but the discovery with which we are dealing involves forces of nature too dangerous to fit into our usual concepts.
   For the immediate protection of the public, we further recommend the enactment of legislation
along the lines of the British Red Flag Act.”