The Washington times., 1913-04-05
WASTE NOT DUE TO
/ BUYING OF MOTORS
Economists Argument Is Indig.
nantIy Refuted BY Automo-
/. bile Man. =

. bile Man. .
II there are any evils existing in the
business world today which have not
been attributed to the automobile, some
one had better speak up and point them
out quickly, or the opportunity will be
lost.
''The wiseacres, the would-be philoso-
piers and the self-appointed guardians
OF other peoples affairs have pro-
claimed the widespread purchase of
automobiles to be an economic waste
which, II not checked, is going to cause
the ruination II the country and other
kinds of calamities," said F. P. Drys-
dale one of the most prominent men
IN the automobile world. "All of
which," he continued, ''can be classified
"a nothing more dignified than mere
rot
Contrary Is Held True.
"a intelligent analysis of facts and
conditions will prove that quite the con-
trary IL true, and that to the automo-
bile industry the country is indebted
for q very material share of its un-
Precedented prosperity during the last
In substantiation of this assertion. it
ie merely necessary to point out that
the one thing essential to general pros
perity is the free and rapid circulation
of money. A single dollar-or a single
penny. for that matter-kept in circula-
ton is q greater factor in promoting
prosperity than the entire currency of
the country, were 1t to remain untouch-
ed In safety deposit vaults or sewed
In mo tfvne nd III nd
the carpets of the nation.
Keeps Millions Busy.
Economic waste Bosh! There is no
economic waste like idle labor. The au-
tomobile industry provides the means
of livelihood for more than Loo 900 peo-
pie.
First. there are the vast plants
which employ hundreds Of thousands of
skilled mechanics in the construction of
motor cars.
There are the thousands employed in
the Industries which furnish material to
the motor car manufacture. the steel
mill, the paintmaker, the tannery and a
score or more of Others to say nothing
OF the stockman who raises the cattle
that furnish the hides for trimming,
and the miner who digs the ore that
makes the steel. and the man who gath
ere the rubber that makes the tires
and so on back.
There are the plants devoted to maxi
anR machinery for making the parts
that enter into the motor car. There are
thousands of statesmen engaged in the
plan Of distribution.
If Wheels Should Stop.
Imagine yourself awakening tomor-
TOW morning and finding the wheels Of
the motor car industry stopped-not to
gfarf p.fn Trr,o al.
of thousands of workmen suddenly cut
on from the means of sustenance
Imagine. then, the result to the trades
men. the merchant, the butcher, tn.
grocer, the dry goods. the clothing ara
the shee men as well as the hundred
and one others with whom those wages
are spent, to say nothing of the conse-
quent stopping of the circulation of the
cash beyond those points.
But. You may say, that would af-
feet only the cities in which automo-
biles are made. Would 1t? The man
who receives the cash for his labor
from the automobile manufacturer
spends II first with his home retail
merchant The retailer buys from the
wholesaler. II the business of the lat
ter be curtailed his requirements for
help are also curtailed. The whole
salers buy from the various manufac-
turers, who are scattered from one eni
VI t1C COuhIy " luc Inc WnOle-
ealers' business having been reduced,
the manufacturers business is likewise
cut down, and he is Obliged, Therefore
to lay Off his men.
The consuming or purchasing power
of these men is in turn reduced to moth
ing. and they. in turn, affect still other
producers
Every One Affected. !
The chain is an endless one. Even
the farmer is not exempt from the in
fiuences. Unemployed labor must econ
omize in everything. including food
stuffs. The sale of products of the
farm becomes lessencd and prices fall
accordingly.
The farmers are frequently the sub
Ject Of severe criticism for their ex-
travagance in buying automobiles. Yet
the very fact that they are doing so is
one of the underlying reasons for their
speaking, the farmers are getting their
automobiles, and, in fact, are getting
them without cost. This statement
upon first thought, may appear absurd
but reverse the process of reasonin:
and see If II is not true.
Money Is Returned.
The farmers, by expendinG millions
of dollars for the comforts and enjoy
ments of life-even for the luxuries. If
you will-are creating enormous oppor-
tunities for the employment of labor
The employment OF that labor I'm turn
increases the consuming and purchasing
power of labor. with the resulting in
crease in the value of what II pur-
chases, and consumes, the greatest
items of which are the foodstuffs the
products of the farm.
The idea that bumper crops ar. the
basis of prosperity is all right as far as
IL goes, but unless the financial Condi-
tion of the country as a whole is such
that these crops will command good
prices their value as basis of pros
perity Is ninimized.
Take the farmers who today have
the cash to pay for comforts, for auto
mobiles and for other so-called luxuries.
Let them all suddenly stop, and in less
than q year II would be found that they
would have little, II any. surplus to buy
with. The whole country would quickly
revert TO the old order OF things-the
souphouse. low prices for farm products
and the resulting depreciation of farm
properties.
"The man who decries the Use Of
money which goes to pay for the pro-
ducts Of labor, with the idea that such |
expenditures are detrimental to the in
dustrfal welfare Of the people as a
whole, does SO either because he him
self happens TO be so situated that he |
can profit by the misfortune of others |
or because he is not capable of fully |
ccmprehending the process necessary TO |