The sun., 1916-08-27
THREE MILLION MOTOR CARS
USED IN UNITED STATES
Over Half a Million Gain Since January 1 and Steady
Increase Showing No Sign of
Falling of. .

sno e~ohnp!e.e registrAtion figures for each
STATE and the statistics of gain In each.
orlnss out the underlying economic fac
sors wnich have made q registration Of
s;VVV,ovo automobiles and trucks possi-
oie IN the United States to-day. Pros.
perity has been the rule throuehout most
sections Of the country, and the saie of
cars naturally follows the spread OF
prosperity. A glance At The tabulation
OF states showing the increase In ras.s-
trauon suinices 10 bring out that those
which have made the largest gains are
the ones most affected by the unusual
Industrial conditions prevailing in this
country since the outbreak Of the Euro
pean war. New York. the leading state,
represents In large degree the snori
nous financial operations connected
With the war order business Throughout
ne country a. w6lt as the huge profits
derived from the reorganization Of capi.
tai n securities In foreign countries.
It's normal growth has been accelerated
oy the increase In the foreign commerce
OF the United States. the bulk Of which
Is transacted through New York city.
pennsylvania, which stands second IN
growth OF registration with q gain Of
Ss.s6a cars and trucks. has shared in
almost every form Of Industrial boom
that has taken place, utilising the high
VI hio COMMUNITIES WHICH IL pro.
duces In U large volume. The prlcs
Of steel has been steadily going up oni
pennsylvania Is one Of the largest
producers. The price Of cos: II higher,
and Pennsyivanla Ii ora II the leading
states In coal mining agricultural prod
ucts are selling for higher prices than
ever before and Pennsylvania's contribu-
ton to this field OF Industry Is enor-
nous and last. but not least. there mas
been an unprecedented boom IN tho oil
industry. which also has relounded to
the profit Of the keystone State.
Minnesota. next In. line with an In.
crease Of 30.l7l registrations. 10 ont Of
our largests agricultural and lumber
states. 30 that II, 80 per Z gain Is
largely due to the wide market AMI
high prices for these products.
Iowa, another big farming State. has
been steadily forging toward the front
rank In motor vehicle registrations for
the past five years. and during the hrst
six months Of 1915 shows an increase
OF 29.760. or more than the entire num-
Der OF registrations at the end OF 1911.
when the State boosted Of 1885 auto
mobiles.
Ohio. with It's big oil fields. its large
manufacturing industries and extensive
farming interests. has increased its reg
istratfon ?s,&l5. or l6 per cent. and
without question a largo part Of this
gain 10 directly attributable to the pros
perity marking the State during the
past six months.
Some OF the other States which may
be mentioned in this connection are Ne
oraska. a leading agricultural centre.
which Is credited with an increase Of
81 per cent. over it's 1915 registration (;
Oklahoma, which has an apparent in
crease Of 20.3s5 cars or so per cent, q
large part Of which IL due to the boom
In the oil industry. although 1t must be
noted that II Is only recently that regis
tration has been enforced. so that the
statistics recorded January 1 were
really incomplete.
A similar condition may be noted In
New Hampshire. which shows an in
crease Of 81 per cent during the six
months. This State Is a big centre for
IL undoubtedly due in u large measure
to this fact that the gain has been so
marked.
In Florida there a been a gain OF
ll,SI7. or 90 per cent. part Of which
represents cars previously unregistered.
but the bulk OF the gain may be at
tributed TO prosperous conditions In the
lumber business and other leading in
dustries Of the State. Lumber n agri-
culture also a much TO do with TIE
Increase Of 7.7o2 made in Washington.
while high metal prices combined with
farm activities to give Missouri 1880
more carr than were registered In that
State at the beginning Of the year.
War orders and their consequent
profits are responsible for some part OF
the II per cent. expansion OF Connectl-
cut registrations. and high prices for
cotton and lumber contributed to
Georgia's 80 per cent. gain. Louisiana
shows a gain OF rs per cent. due 70 high
sugar prices and the big cotton market,
Ar!zona's copper mining industry played
Its part in giving that State an Increase
Of SO per cent.
Several Of the States which formerly
constituted the tail end Of the list have
shown larger gains than others which
formerly led them. Nevada, which was
last on January !. has moved up three
places similarly Wyoming. which was
second, has moved upward In the same
degree as Nevada and several other sim
liar alterations OF position have taken
place.
On a basis OF ratio OF cars and trucks
to population lowa's lead, with thirteen
people for each motor vehicle. compares
with sixteen people per car at the be.
ginning Of the year. California 10 still
In second place In this respect. having
increased It's ratio from eighteen people
per car TO n car for every fifteen Of
It's population. Nebraska continues
third. but It has now made a signal gain
, showing only sixteen people for every
'otor vehicle as compared with twenty
ne people per car on January /. In
lana Is now fourth. having come W
rom ninth place by increasing Its car.
to-population ratio from twenty-nine tc
seventeen. Indiana has thus displaced
South Dakota. which was formerly
fourth, but 1t IL now fifth, showing "A de-
crease OF Ave people to every car. Min
nesota has passed Kansas. having nine
teen people per car as compared witt
twenty-five on January !, Kansas be.n-
now in seventh place in this respect with