2*8 MY AMERICAN FRIENDS

inmates &t their destinations you will, find, I
think, that the cars carry the indoor habit inside
them. How far the car is confirming the
Americans in the habit and how far it is releasing
them from it, is a very difficult question to answer.
It acts in both ways and perhaps in the one as
much as in the other. I have heard the question
hotly debated among the Americans themselves
with no conclusion come to. It is an important
question and thoughtful Americans are aware
of its importance. And, of course, it is not
confined to America but only, like so many
other things I have noted in this book, nearer the
surface there than elsewhere. The fate of urban
civilization is not unconnected with it.