Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-14
YEAR STARTS BOOM
IN AUTO BUSINESS
Sees Great Future Ahead of Motoring
Trade After Stormy Fourteen
Months of Great Finan-
ciaI Depression

BUFFALO, N. Y, Feb. 13.-"The
show recently held at the Garden, to
! my mind, is the most successful we
have ever had, from a utility as well
as, an advertising standpoint, and I
believe that the Chicago show will be
still more so,'' said E. L. Thomas, vice
president of the E. r. Thomas Motor
Car company, today.
1T has been fourteen months since
the last show was held in New York.
The one that began in October was
held during. the beginning of a panic.
This one comes at the start of
boom. In the interval the automobile
industry has given proof of it's stability
by surviving a crisis and depression
that worked havoc in almost all other
! lines Of industry. 1t might have been
! expected that the automobile, being
rather expensive luxury, would have
suffered beyond any other line. In
fact it was predicted of the motor car
that its success of the years from 1903
to 1907 really mirrOred the boom time.
Show the One Objective
1.-THE prosperity of that period made
money so plentiful that men cared not
how they disposed of it. In their de-
sire to Outshine one another they were
| willing to put five to fifteen thousand
dollars into car, without regard to
what return they got. When the f1nan-
cial crisis and hard time came the
| calamity hoWleIS predicted that the au-
tomobile business would follow the ex-
perience of the trade in bicycles and
go to the WALL as all other fads had
| done in years gone by.
But here is another show and a
time for taking account of stock. The
automobile is still here and here to
| stay. The same firms are making it
and with very few exceptions are sue
cessful. They had the pluck to stick
to it all through the hard times and
gave proof, by emerging safe and
sound, that real money and not wa
tered stock enters into Ahe manufacture
of automobiles. Throughout the panic
| the manufacturer had confidence in his
wares. He did not follow the example
of manufacturers in other lines of
business and practically close down.
Although handling luxury he. stuck
to his guns and declined to bow to the
hard times.
This Year Reflects Optimism
| "He advertised and went right on
| building cars and designing new ones.
| This years immense display represents
| the optimism of the makers, for this
/
made during the panic time. In only
one respect does the effect of hard
times appear at the shows held this
year and that is that there would not
have been as many popular-priced cars
but for the financial depression.
1.-The American manufacturers have
turned a period of financial stress into
a golden opportunity. The less wealthy
public also profits, for the use of motor
cars has been brought to it much
quicker. The possibilities of the trade
are immense and the developments
during the last ten years are the be-
ginning of what, in my estimation, will
turn out to be the greatest manufac-
| turing industry of the age.
Il believe that our own progress in
the manufacture of automobiles very
well illustrates the progress made by
| the various manufacturers who started
in about the same time that we did.
Growth of the Thomas
I'm the year 1900 we occupied a sin
gle story in a little building, about
40X80 feet and turned out two ma
chimes that year. During the early
part of 1902 we moved from that build
| ing and built on the present site of
our factory small two-story building
expanding gradually until at the pres
ent time our plant covers several acres
of three and four-stOry buildings. with
a capacity to manufacture from ten to
fifteen cars a day.
| THAT the show was a great success
for everybody concerned is evidenced
| by the fact that from all reports
which have come to my notice regard
| ing sales the manufacturers succeeded
in disposing of from So to so per cent
more cars at this show than at any
previous show held in past years
Therefore I feel that in view Of the
foregoing facts and the bright outlook
that l can safely say that the auto
mobile industry will, if protected by
the proper kind Of tariff and an honest
output, eventually become one of the
main standbys of American manufac-
| turers.
ut proves to me that the automobile
industry is being pushed to the fore at
a rate that no other manufacturing
proposition has ever attained in as
short a period of time. The infusion
of young blood in the past few years
has given the necessary impetus to a
growing industry and shown what a
wide field there was for the young man
with the pluck and energy to fight for
! the establishment and stability on
permanent basis of the automobile
| business
|