The San Francisco call., 1910-02-20
LIMITS NUMBER OF
SMALL FACTORIES
Thus Mushroom Concerns of
Little Capital Are Kept
Down

Citizens Of the United States have
many things to be proud Of And un-
like the citizens of some other coun-
tries, seem TO lack that Characteristic
of self-importance which is to be found
under similar conditions outside the
boundaries of this republic. The rea-
son for this is twofold. First. things
of great moment and magnitude, which
do not directly come into the daily life
Of the citizen fails to stop him long
enough so that he may perform his
seIf-adoratfon. Secondly, since the great
rebellion the United States has been
IN the habit Of doing big things to
such an extent that the statement that
the United States leads in any particu-
lar has become comm 7nplace. So when
it is said that the United States pos
sesses more than half of the automo-
biles that have ever been manufactured.
the statement calls forth, at most, the
remark, why not?" Yet, this state
ment is something that seriously af-
fects the future Of the country. The
manufacture Of automobiles has as
sumed the proportions which command
for it a consideration on q par with
that of wheat. steel, and other products
and productions which are the finan-
cial telItale which indicates the pros
perity or stringency OF the financial
world
At the present time in the east, where
these motor cars are manufactured. is
going on one Of the greatest financial
games that the world has ever known
Companies started practically on
shoestring carried on to the present
condition of great financial institu-
tiOn through the use of other peoples
money, made possible by the great ue-
rnand for motor cars, are beng col
lected together in groups which finally
must all be merged together or within
a very short time lined up in great
manufacturing battle for supremacy
What the outcome OF the moves on the
boards in the east will be is being
watched with interest by those in touch
with the automobile manufacturing
world At the beginning OF 1903 ii was
then considered an open manufacturing
world But in the early months OF last
year different prosperous companies
We're bought up and merged into bigger
corporations. These corporations were
later drawn closer together by q de-
cision upholding the Selden patent.
There was 4 rush TO get under the
faVorab BILE protection OF the licensed
association which enjoyed the privilege
of the Selden patent. For years many
Of these companies were in opposition
10 those in the association, and it is
hard to realize that the decision was
the sole cause OF the amalgamation-
There seems TO be an unQercurrent to
the whole transaction. which indicates
that the brains of these larger and
more gigantic factories had. unobserved
By the world gotten together TO prac-
tically control the automobile market.
This is borne out by the fact that after
practically all the large manufacturers
had been accepted to membership in
the licensed association. there was Gre
ated new class Of membership known
as the limited This Limited" member
shin means, as far as known here, that
the limitation is placed on the number Of
cars that those accepting such member
ship shall manufacture. This leaves
the older members and those taken in
in the unlimited" membership class
free 10 manufacture to the full limit
of their factories. While this might
indicate that the trade was being cor
rallied in q way that would uphold
prices and insure the profits Of the
present day. vet this condition is not
likely to be the result. The bringing
together of the big manufacturers and
the lesser ones of good standing on
neutral field viii not stifie the COM
petition in trade.
1t viii. in fact. result in the protec-
ton of the buyer, in that il is likely
TO curtsn the formations of new fac
tories started with q small capital
that does not insure the continuation
of the plant. This can be best realized
by looking over the situation since the
automobile first came into prominence
There have been many companies
started which built in part, or in whole
or assembled cars, that are now out
Of existence. The motor car, like
every other piece OF machinery, wears
with usage, and that part OF the mech
anism which has TO stand the strain
Of operation must from time to time
be renewed. The owners Of cars built
by factories now out of existence must
now go to the repair shop and have
such parts replaced at a cost several
times that which such parts are gen.
orally duplicated for by the factory.
The upkeep in such cases makes the
ownership of such cars expensive to
such an extent that it is cheaper to
dispose of the car for whatever It will
bring. Here again is presented another
phase A car built by a factory now out
Of existence depreciates in value not
consistent with its original cost. The
public has become educated and the
average man viii not buy such a car and
il has practically TO be given away. With
the formation Of the great combination
Of factories now going on the buyer