ABSTRACT
Road development in Indo-China received little attention before the war of 1914-18. During the late nineteenth century several roads had indeed been constructed from Saigon, and French punitive expeditions in Tonkin had necessitated the driving of tracks across difficult mountains, but over the greater part of the country the railway was the chief means of land communication. As large loans for railway construction were no longer forthcoming with the outbreak of war, it became evident that the unity of Indo-China would be achieved more quickly and more easily by expansion or improvement of the road system. The 1913 loan was the first to allot credits to road building. From that time onwards, particularly after 1918, progress has been rapid and Indo-China now possesses one of the finest road systems in the Far East, comprising in 1939 some 35,636 km. (22,143 mls.).
