New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1915-10-13
PROSPERITY OF PEOPLE Is EHL
DENCED BY LARGE NUM-
Der OF MACHINES.
NEARLY 100000 REGISTERED
Secretary of State SchmahI Predict
Citizens Will Own 100000 Cars
Before 1912 Closes, or Ono
Auto to Every II.
BY Julius A. Schmahl, Secretary OF
= State.

l know of no better criterion of the
wealth and prosperity of all classes
of the people of Minnesota than that
of the automobile. In 1907, when the
Legislature first provided for a state
registration of automobiles, 1000 were
registered. The following year it
jumped to 10000. In 1909 the registra-
tion was $4,000; In 1910 the registra.
tion was 2S,500; and the year 1911
closed with registration of about
$4,000. The 1911 Session of the Leg
islature provided for a three year
period with January 1, 1912, and when
the department closed business on De.
cember 81, 1914, tia records showed
there we're IS 500 licensed automobiles
in Minnesota and in addition there
were a large number in the hands OF
dealers licensed under what is known
rs the Dealers Registration Act. The
new triennial period commenced Ga
January 1, 1915, aad at this writing
September 90, 1915, the registration,
exclusive of dealers, has reached S..
900, and there are undoubtedly
thousand or two more in the hands Of
the $50 dealers throughout the state
that have either not been sold or ap
plications have not been received 81
this department.
People Inveet $s4,e90,Oo0.
The Wall Street Journal, the ort1lo
dox financial paper o:xhe United States,
published in New Yak City, in an is
sue circulated during the month of ALL
gust, made the statement that the av.
erage price of an automobile owned
throughout the United States is abova
1880, over one-half of the cars prodrc-
ed selling for less than $500. Using
this responsible statement as basis,
the people of Minnesota now have 1884,
100000 invested in automobiles. It
can be positively stated that there is
practically little Or no charge as
credit against these machines and that
the entire item is one that is exclusive
property of the owners.
This stupendous amount and growth
shows better the prosperity of Mime
sofa than any other one item that I
can think of and inasmuch it has come
from the soil of the state within the
last eight years, people from other
states desiring to invest in Minnesota
real estate ar& make homes in this
state, wRl not ponder long in their re-
Election as to the actual wealth of the
soil of the state. From the applica-
tons on file in this Office can make
a safe estimate that about thirty per
cent of the total registration has been
made by the farmers of Minnesota.
This latter registration as whole
does no cover many of the high priced
machines but it does show a safe, cGH-
servati.e policy on part of the farmers
in purchasing good and durable mach
ines and machines that viii answer all
purposes.
One Auto to Every II Citizens.
; At the present time the registration
comes largely fro%a that section of
Minnesota south from direct line
across the state from Brainerd but the
applications from the Northern Sec
ton age coming in quite rapidly and
indicate that rapid strides are being
made in both the agricultural wealth
of that section as we'll as in the inn
proveuaent of roads.
Minnesota is FaE about the nirHh
state in the Union in the number of
licensed automob3 es. The people of
the state are calling for them faster
than they can be delivered from the
factories. Before 1915 closes Minne-
sofa will have very near 100000 ma.
chimes registered and before the tri-
ennial period closes on December 81,
1917, the people will own in the neigh
borhood Of 100000 machines, equiv
alent to about one machine to every
sounntean citizens of the state