Mount Vernon signal. (Mt. Vernon, Ky.) 18??-current, 1916-05-12

ing the manufacturer, the dealer
and the Individual buyer, than tor
the leading factories 10 adopt 4
deferred payment sales plan, and
( cannot believe that the leading
manufacturers are really giving
serious consideration to such Il
plan.
The installment plan of buyin :
/ is fundamentally wrong regard
less Of the article involved. This
is especially true as applied to
automobiles. The automobile
! business was started on a cash
basis. 1t is The only big business
4 that has ever been operated on a
cash principle, and in my judge
ment the cash basis is one of the
biggest reasons why the autono
bile industry has grown 81
wonderfully fast Cash sales
have made possible the rapid
building up of big reserves Of
capital. Plenty of liquid capital
has made possible rapid eXpir-
sion, improvements in manu-,
featuring methods, and quantity
/ productions. Quanty production
has made il possible for motor car
makers to market a constantly
: improved product at constantly
, lowering price.
The automobile is one of the
few things in everyday use which
! has not advanced rapid ~ IN price
( in the last few years. And ali
these favorable conditions con
nected with the marketing of auto
mobiles can be traced, in every
measure, to the fact that auto
mobiles have been sold for cash.
And now all this is threatened
by the introduction of the install
ment plan Of buying. The pres
ent scramble on the part Of these
hastily organized trust COM
panies" and certain manufacturers
to force automobiles into the
hands of every body who has a
few dOllarS--regardleSS of the fact
that the time part of the contract
is likely to WORK a severe hardship
upon the purchaser and his family
is the worst thing that has hap
pened in my entire business ey
perience. If persisted in believe
many purchasers will impose All
obligation upOr themselves which
they will find hard to meet.
| am well aware that automo-
bileS are now and have been for
some years sold on time under
certain restricted conditions. In
many cases / believe such trans
actions come within we'll accepted
terms of sound business practice,
especially where Dealer sells an
automobile to a worthy customer,
and where arrangements can be
made 10 fiuance the loan ct home.
In such cases there is no risk for
the Dealer, and the purchasers
interests are cared for ard guard.
ed in a manner that is entilely
different than is the case when
the paper is sold 10 and held by an
outside trust company.
But in this connection | desire
to say just as emphatically as
can that if a man cannot afford to
own an automobile lie ought not to
have One--until he can afford it
| mean that absolutely. Just be- /
cause man has a few dollars
saved it would be unwise, in nv
opinion, for him to put up all his
savings as part payment for a car.
Because he can make the initial
deposit is no assurance that he
can. without working a hardship
upon himself and perhaps his
family, get enough money to
gether to NEE; notes for $500 or
$1,000 more-notcS which for ary
thing else but an automobile
would look enormous to him.
Such sales are detriment to the
manufacturer, the Dealer, and /.
the purchaser They are a del
to the manufacturer be |
cause they introduce an artificial
element iuto an industry that is
basically sound and healthy. |
They injure the Dealer because
they are strong possibilities that
cars thus sold will come hack to
him as second hand ma hines,
thus forcing him to make other
sales in order to get his money.
The affoct of tI,;. l.; 4 oel: