What is this Box...

[Dagnorm]

I am now working on my 74 Waggy and one of the first things I am doing is getting rid of all the excess. (at least till its back together) Under the hood, on the driver side there is a box on the fender well that has what looks to be the odometer cable in and out. There apears to be a vacume line and other stuff on this thing. What is it, what needs to be hooked to it, and is it really necessary.
Thanks for the info.....

[Retro93]

That is the cruise control. You can run your drive cable directly from the transfer case to your speedometer. Just unplug the box and plug the vacuum lines.